


'Till the End of the Line

by blazingskies2970



Series: 'Till the End of the Line Trilogy [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha Brock Rumlow, Alpha Nick Fury, Alpha Scott Lang, Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha T'Challa (Marvel), Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha Vision (Marvel), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Beta Clint Barton, Beta Natasha Romanov, Beta Rhodey Rhodes, Beta Sam Wilson, Beta Wanda Maximoff, Bottom Bucky Barnes, Brock is a jerk, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, F/M, Finally, Fluff, He needs to die a painful death, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra-freeform, Implied Mpreg, King T'Challa (Marvel) - Freeform, M/M, Okay I'll stop now, Omega Bucky Barnes, Omega Everett Ross, Omega Pepper Potts, Omega Peter Parker, Protective Steve Rogers, Rape/Non-con Elements, S.H.I.E.L.D.-freeform, Smut, Steve is a giant golden retriever, Top Steve Rogers, Whoops i totally forgot Beta Bruce Banner, that's a lot of tags, trainer Steve, wow that's a lot of tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-03-29 05:06:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 33
Words: 85,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13920000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blazingskies2970/pseuds/blazingskies2970
Summary: In 2013, a train carrying 4,029 passengers was sabotaged and blew up. There were no survivors...except a young nineteen-year-old going on a trip with his family. He was dragged from a snowy valley by Hydra, a group of alphas and betas who steal young omegas and turn them into breeders.The boy's memory was erased and he was giving a metal arm. They transformed him into the perfect breeder.For 4 years they forced him to mother 4 pups, each one taken away from him and given to faceless families. Everything was going fine, until the boy miscarried. They cast him out on the street, without clothes or money, in the middle of January, and with no memory of who he was, and only the hope of death.And then he was found by an alpha who smelled something on him that would change their lives forever.





	1. The Winter Soldier

 

 

 

The breeding bench was cold as he was laid across it and strapped in. He didn't fight back, he was used to this now. He didn't even flinch as they stuck a needle in his arm.

He lay still as he could feel fire sweeping through his veins, hot and painful. Slick started to trickle from in between his legs, creating a small puddle on the floor.

"He's ready," one of the scientists said, patting his ass.

The scientists stepped out of the room, and he was left alone. He swallowed and let his eyes slide shut as he heard to door swing open again.

The disgusting scent of alpha washed over him, like burnt rubber and tar. It made him want to vomit.

"Hello there, Winter Soldier," the alpha purred, laying a hand on his back. He knew that voice. It was the alpha who had fathered two of his four pups, and one of his usuals.

They called him Winter Soldier because they found him in the middle of December and they said he was strong like a soldier. But deep down inside, he wanted to cry every single time they took his pups away. He had never gotten to hold any of them. No matter how strong and how much, brainwashing could never overpower an omega's instincts.

He heard the alpha unbuckle his pants, then drop them to the floor. The alpha wasted no time shoving himself into the omega, starting off with a brutally fast past. The omega bit his lip to stop himself from crying out because of the pain.

It was over shortly, thankfully. The alpha pulled out, letting the mixture of blood, cum and slick run down the omega's legs to the floor. He heard the alpha pull back up his pants.

"See you later," the alpha snarled out.

It continued on like that for five days, the duration of his heat. He would rest when he was able to. By the end, he knew he was pregnant. It was his fifth pup. They did a blood test, only telling him something that he already knew.

They put him in a small cell with one tiny window high above his head and hardwood floors instead of cement. He sat down in the far corner, curled up, with his hands wrapped around his still flat stomach.

"Hi, there," he whispered. "I'm your daddy. Of course, you'll never know that. You'll be sold off to some assholes like you were never even mine."

Just then, a little swinging door on the wall opposite him swung open and a tray of food was pushed in. He crawled over to it. It was stale bread and a cup of water. He scarfed down the bread and drank the water. It tasted like piss.

He scampered back over to his corner, curled up again and fell asleep.

\-----

He shivered as they applied the cold gel to his belly, then pressed the probe on his skin.

"Everything looks fine," muttered one scientist to another. They didn't even talk to him. They wrote down something on their papers, then switched off the ultrasound machine and wiped the gel off his body. He had never even gotten to see his pup.

Three betas grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and forced him to stand up. They escorted him back to his cell.

He was three months pregnant by now, and he wasn't showing at all. He was a lot skinnier compared to his last pregnancies, and he knew that this pup wouldn't be strong like the other ones.

Omegas generally had seven to eight pups before birth complications came into play with any other pups. The recommended maximum was five, although, at Hydra, an omega had had nine pups before, two of them dying before one month old and the last one being stillborn. He didn't want to have nine pups. He wanted to have three or four pups, but who was ever going to listen to him? He was just a stupid breeder.

He held out his hands, staring at them. One silver metal, one flesh and blood. All the other omegas he had seen walking around, being escorted by betas all had two arms that were made out of skin. So why did he have one strange arm?

He couldn't even remember a time when he had normal hands.

In fact, he could remember nothing before he woke up on the breeding bench, four years ago.

\-----

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. He whimpered as he rubbed his stomach, lying on the floor of his cell.

"Oh god," he whispered. His stomach felt like it was cramping up, almost like he had to vomit. But he couldn't. Drugs forced into his body by Hydra agents prevented him from getting morning sickness. And besides, this wasn't morning. It was very bright outside like it was midday.

He cried out as his belly felt like it was being ripped open from the inside. All of a sudden, he felt something seep out of his body and into his thin pants. He gasped and glanced down. His crotch and inner thighs were stained red.

He knew what it was immediately.

And he knew what would happen to him.

The door to his cell burst open, and guards poured in, hands grabbing at him, forcing him to stand up. He doubled over, the pain in his abdomen making it hard to stand, but they made him walk anyway, hurrying him into a different cell, this one cold and dark.

They threw him down and began to beat him with their fists and wooden clubs which all the agents had attached to their belts. It seemed to last for ages.

They hit him everywhere, not caring that he was already in pain, that he was miscarrying.

At some point, one of the clubs broke, but they kept beating him with it, breaking his skin with the wooden shards. He begged, screamed, for them to stop.

But they never did.

They just kept going, their faces hidden by masks.

Finally, they stopped and moved away, leaving him there, broken and bruised, crying. He could hardly move. It hurt to take a breath.

The door opened and an alpha walked in. Brock Rumlow, he remembered. Brock walked over and stripped him down to nothing, exposing his cracked skin to the cold air.

The alpha grabbed something from his belt. He couldn't make it out clearly.

"You've failed us, Soldier," Brock said. "You know what's going to happen, right?"

He brought the thing in his hand down on the omega's head.

Metal, the Winter Soldier thought before everything went black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dun... tbc


	2. Steve

**January 2018**

Steve Rogers wiped the sweat off his face and took a long sip from his water bottle. Today's workout had been tough, not only on his clients but also on him. It was a rare thing for a workout to get him this tired.

"See you next week?"

Steve whirled around to come face-to-face with Sharon Carter, one of his regulars. He smiled at her. She was a pretty omega, with wavy blonde hair and brown eyes. She wasn't like most omegas, who only came to Steve's gym because of him, but she came to actually work out. And she was damn well good at it, too. She was one of the few who had been able to keep up with Steve during the insane cardio workout he did today.

"Yeah, of course. Bye, Sharon," he said, grinning. She smiled back and then walked over to her friends, who were all chatting excitedly. She quickly glanced back at Steve before she left the building with her friends.

"You should really ask her out, man. It's driving me insane," said Steve's friend, Sam Wilson. Steve glanced over at him and smirked.

"Yeah, maybe one day," he said.

Sam rolled his eyes. "I swear, you take the longest time to ask anyone out," he said.

Steve shrugged and said, "I just like to wait and see if we really connect and they're good dating material."

"Well, that one sure is."

Steve frowned. "She's not that one, Sam, she's Sharon and although she's an omega, she's her own person," he said, moving to pick up a discarded towel on the ground and throw it in the dirty laundry basket in the back.

"Er, right. Sorry, man."

Steve glanced around the gym. "Everything look alright to you?" he asked Sam, who nodded.

"Looks fine, let's just go already."

"You got a date or something?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Although he was a beta, Sam had the good looks and strong build of an alpha, which always sent girls fawning over him.

"Or something," he said, grabbing his keys. Steve shook his head, chuckling. He slung his jacket over his shoulder, not even bothering to put it on, and strode out into the night with Sam.

It had been snowing, light flurries drifting lazily down from the night sky and landing all around them.

"Would you shoot me if I went all Elsa on you?" Sam asked, smirking. Steve laughed.

"I'm afraid I would," he said.

"Ah, dammit."

Steve walked over to his car, an old blue Volkswagen beetle that he had had since he first started college. His friends liked to tease him about the car's age and call him "Old Man," but Steve liked the car. It had served him well all throughout its years.

He waved good-bye to Sam as he got in and started the engine. He plugged his phone into the car and scrolled down his playlists until he found 40s music. Steve liked the 40s, sue him. He smiled as Frank Sinatra filled the car, humming along softly.

He pulled out of the parking space and begin the drive home. Thankfully, Steve didn't live too far away from the gym, only about 15 minutes.

Steve frowned as he came upon a detour sign in the middle of the street. Steve glanced around into the darkness.

"What the hell is the detour for?" he muttered to himself, then shrugged and took a right where the arrow was pointing.

He knew the alternate route, but it was just longer seeing as it went through the neighborhoods rather than the main road. He glared suspiciously around at the one-story, run-down houses. This wasn't the kindest neighborhood, and Steve didn't like driving through it at night. So what if he was 6'0" and pure muscle? Alphas could get scared too.

Steve was driving, singing quietly along to the music, not really paying attention to what was on the sides of the road until he took a right and slammed on his breaks.

A body was lying half on the sidewalk, half on the street.

Steve got out of his car, his eyes wide. He slowly walked over to the body.

It was a man.

The first thing Steve noticed was that his left arm was cut off at the shoulder and in its place was a metal prosthetic one. He was so skinny that Steve could count every single one of his ribs. His body was bruised and bloodied, though nothing looked too badly broken.

Steve knelt down next to body and was blasted in the face with the scents of blood, fear, anger, and...honey?

Steve leaned closer to the man. His dark hair came down to his shoulders and was matted with blood from a head wound. Steve sniffed him again, his eyes growing wide.

He was an omega.

He was Steve's true mate.

And he was still alive.

Steve gently picked the omega up, careful of his wounds, and carried him to his car. He gently laid the omega in the passenger's seat, buckling him in. As Steve got in his side of the car, he took off his jacket and laid it on the omega, providing him warmth and modesty. Steve drove home as fast as he could.

HIs house was nothing special, just a small 2-story colonial. Steve pulled into the attached garage, which he was thankful for during winter. He picked the omega up, cradling him. He wasn't really thinking straight. He should've taken the omega to the hospital, but Steve didn't want the omega to freak out when he smelt so many different people.

Steve carried the omega upstairs, to one of the two guest bedrooms. He gently laid him on the bed, then ran downstairs to get a bowl, which he filled it with warm water from the sink and snatched a sponge. Back upstairs, he gave the unconscious omega a sponge bath. He softly washed the other's body, careful of his wounds. When Steve rolled the omega over to wash his back, it became clear that he was raped.

Steve was getting angry.

He hated how omegas were treated like they were useful for nothing but an alpha's pleasure. Steve washed away all the blood that was around his hole, his jaw clenching. There was too much blood and not enough cum and slick for the omega to have been raped recently.

 _Maybe he miscarried_ , Steve thought, his heart breaking for the omega.

Once Steve finished washing the omega, he began to dress his wounds. He put adhesive bandages on the larger cuts, almost like gashes, and wrapped the omega's head wound.

Steve grabbed a pair of his own boxers and slipped them up the omega's legs. There were too big for him and hung off his hips, but they were better than nothing. Steve dressed him in soft flannel pants and an old American flag t-shirt. He then tucked the omega in the guest bed, leaning over him and sniffing him. The scents of blood and fear were almost gone, and the beautiful honey scent was stronger, now with what smelled like vanilla.

Steve shut his eyes and smiled. The omega smelled like the honey and chamomile tea his mom used to make for him when he was little.

The omega seemed to relax in the bed, the pained expression on his face being replaced by a peaceful look. Steve reached out a hand and gently stroked the omega's hair. It was still tangled. Steve ran his fingers through the other's hair, gently pulling out all the tangles. He would have to wash it tomorrow or something, he just didn't feel like potentially drowning his true mate.

True mate...Steve laughed quietly to himself. He had sort of believed in true mates, he just thought that he would never meet his own. Yet, here he was, caring for his almost-dead mate.

"Good night," Steve whispered, getting up. He flicked off the light and shut the door. He stood in the hallway for a while, just thinking, with a bowl of cloudy, cold water in his right hand.

 _I wonder what his story is_ , he thought.

_And why the hell he had a metal arm._


	3. The Winter Soldier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after Steve finds Bucky...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dreaming comes so easily  
> 'Cause it's all that I've known  
> True love is a fairy tale  
> I'm damaged, so how would I know  
> I'm scared and I'm alone  
> I'm ashamed and I need for you to know  
> I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say  
> And you can't take back what you've taken away  
> 'Cause I feel you, I feel you near me
> 
> -Damaged by Plumb

The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was light. Lots of light. He blinked and stared up at the white, clean ceiling, his eyes adjusting. He sat up slowly. There was something on him...blankets?

What the hell?

He looked to his left and saw a huge window, much bigger than the one in his cell. It let in a whole lot more light. He flung the blankets off his body and glanced down at himself. He was wearing red plaid pants and a baggy t-shirt.

Where the hell did these come from?

There were not at all like the thin, cotton pants and the small white tank top that Hydra made him wear. Hydra...

He shut his eyes, letting the memories come back to him. They had beat him...thrown him out...he was freezing...he was dying...

He opened his eyes and got up slowly off the bed, careful of his wounds. He winced when he applied pressure to his sprained ankle. He held his arms out in front him, inspecting them, and was surprised to find some sort of skin-color papery thing on his right arm. He gently touched it with his metal fingers.

Bandage, he remembered. Suddenly, he had a distant memory of a woman putting a bandage on his arm, telling him that it was just a scratch...

He sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. The entire room smelled like alpha, but not like the burnt rubber and tar scent that he was used to. It smelled like leather and old books and pine. Very strong, but not necessarily a bad smell.

He shook himself and walked over to the window, peering down. The ground was covered with something white and sparkling.

 _Snow_ , the omega thought. He turned around slowly, trying to look for a way out of the room. He spotted the door behind him and tried the handle. It was surprisingly unlocked. The door opened up into a small hallway, with stairs leading down to the first floor. He limped over and started gingerly down the stairs, conscious of his sprained ankle. When one of the stairs squeaked, he paused, listening. He couldn't hear anyone moving around downstairs, so he assumed that nobody was in the house except for himself.

As he stepped off the last step, his bare feet landed in a soft red carpet, and he stood there a minute, savoring the feel under his feet. At Hydra, there were no carpets and he was forced to walk barefoot all the time, resulting in him stepping on something sharp and having his foot start to bleed now and then.

Glancing to his right, he saw a living room with comfortable couches and a fireplace. He poked his head in the room. No one was there.

He went left, quietly stepping into the kitchen. He froze.

There was someone in the kitchen, sitting with his back to the omega, reading the newspaper.

That someone was obviously an alpha, and where the scent was coming from. He had blonde hair and broad shoulders and was wearing a red t-shirt.

The omega didn't even think twice.

He launched at the alpha, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground. The alpha yelped as he was pinned down, the omega's metal fingers wrapping around his throat.

"Where the hell am I?" snarled the omega. He believed that this alpha only wanted to rape him, impregnate him, and then take his pups away just like all the others at Hydra.

The alpha wrapped his hands around the omega's wrist, gasping for breath.

"Who the hell are you?" the omega demanded.

Suddenly, he was flung off by the alpha's knee pushing up against his stomach. The omega crumpled to the ground, immediately curling into a ball with his hands wrapped around his head, prepared for his beating.

He was not at all ready for the gentle hand touching his head.

"Hey, it's okay," the alpha murmured. His voice was a lot kinder than the omega thought it would be.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I swear. My name's Steve Rogers."

The omega remained curled up, not wanting to give in. He knew alphas. All they cared about was his hole and womb.

After about a minute, it was clear that the alpha, or "Steve," wasn't going to give in any time soon, so the omega uncurled himself and punched the alpha square in the face.

He scrambled on his hands and knees away, hiding behind the kitchen island. Steve blinked, surprised, then stood up.

"I promise I'm not going to hurt you," he tried again.

The omega gritted his teeth. Any minute now, he knew that the alpha was going to crack and start to hurt him, possibly even kill him. Whatever. It didn't matter. He wanted to die.

"Are you hungry?"

The omega blinked. He hadn't expected that. Yes, he was hungry, but it wasn't like he was going to tell the alpha that.

Steve grabbed his plate from the table and held up a piece of toast with butter on it.

"Do you want this?"

Yes, the omega thought. His stomach actually hurt he was so hungry. But he stayed where he was.

Steve set the plate back on the table, then slowly sat on the floor, the piece of toast in his hand. He held it out in the omega's direction, waiting.

The omega hesitated, then jumped up and bolted towards the alpha. He grabbed the piece of toast, then ran past him, towards the glass door that led outside. He flung it open and tumbled out onto the alpha's wooden deck.


	4. Steve

Steve cursed under his breath as he sprang to his feet. He had honestly never met an omega before who had such a fighting spirit. He would never forget the look of rage and fear in the omega's blue-gray eyes.

He ran out the door. The omega was struggling through snow that came up to his mid-thigh.

Steve didn't waste any time plowing through the snow and tackling the omega down. The omega shouted out, his fists flying. Steve grabbed his hands, shivering at the odd feeling of the cold metal of his left arm. The omega froze, breathing heavily and glaring up at Steve.

"It's all right," Steve said as calm as possible. It didn't work. The omega ripped his metal arm from Steve's grip and punched him in the face.

Jesus Christ, Steve thought as he fell backward in the snow. The omega scrambled to his feet and backed away from Steve, crouched down low, clearly ready for a fight.

"You leave now and you'll die," Steve said.

"Good," the omega spat out. "I want to."

Steve's heart broke for the poor creature. "You don't mean that," he said softly.

The omega laughed, thin and choked. "Yes, I do. I've been wanting to die for 4 years. This is my opportunity. Maybe you could do me a favor and kill me right now."

"What's your name?" Steve asked. The omega paused before saying, "The Winter Soldier."

Steve frowned. "That's not a name."

The omega growled. "Fine," he snapped. "I don't have one."

"How do you not have a name?"

"Or if I do, I don't remember it."

Steve could see a flash of pain in the omega's eyes before it was stifled by anger once again. Steve desperately wanted to ask the omega what had happened to him, but he didn't want to make him more mad at Steve.

"What happened to you?" Steve tried.

"I was rejected," the omega said dryly. Steve tipped his head.

"Rejected?" he echoed. "By your alpha?"

The omega shifted his weight and said, "I don't have no alpha."

"Okay..."

"Could you just hurry up and kill me already?"

"Why were you left out on the streets?"

"I told you. I was rejected. I was deemed unfit."

"Why?"

"Why the hell do you care?" the omega shouted. Steve paused. He was right. Why did Steve care? A slight wind picked up, blowing towards Steve, carrying the omega's scent. Honey.

"Because you're my true mate," Steve said gently.

The omega laughed and shook his head. "Those aren't real," he said, but Steve could tell that he was doubting his own words.

"Look, I promise I'm not going to hurt you," he said again.

"Yeah. You keep telling yourself that. You alphas are all the same. Sons of bitches who only care about getting their hands on anything that has a hole and makes slick."

Steve was sickened. "That's not true. I'm not like that."

The omega rolled his eyes and shivered as another wind swept through Steve's backyard.

"Why don't you come inside?" Steve asked kindly. "I can make you breakfast and hot chocolate if you'd like." God knows you need it.

Steve watched as the omega battled internally with himself. Finally, however, he gave and slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"Fine," he mumbled. Steve smiled and made way towards his house. He glanced back and was proud to see the omega following.

When they got in the kitchen, the omega stayed in the corner, his arms wrapped around himself, watching Steve make toast for him. Steve gently set the plate down on the table and motioned for the omega to sit. He did, stiffly, and poked at the piece of toast.

"It's not poisoned, I promise," Steve said, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

"Wish it was," the omega grumbled and began to eat it. Steve made the omega a cup of hot chocolate and set it down. He then sat down next to him, watching him eat.

Steve studied the omega. More specifically, the omega's metal arm. In the middle of his shoulder, there was a red star, and below it, BUK-792.

"Can I call you Buk?" Steve asked. The omega turned and glared at him.

"What?" he demanded. Steve awkwardly pointed to the omega's arm.

"B-U-K," he read out loud. "Can I call you Buk?"

"No," the omega grumbled, then turned back to his toast.

"Fine. Bucky, then. How 'bout that?"

The omega's lips twitched up in what was almost a smile, then returned to their usual frown. He shrugged.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

The omega sat back in his seat, having finished the toast and hot chocolate. Steve cleared the plates away, putting them in the sink, then sat back down.

"Bucky, I swear I'm not like the other alphas. I hate seeing people being brought down by others. I don't like bullies, I don't care where they come from. I swear on my life that I will not hurt you. You can stay here until you've gotten your strength back up. I'm not forcing you to, but I will highly recommend it." He paused, waiting for Bucky's response.

Bucky shrugged.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in one day? What am I doing with my life?


	5. Bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to care  
> And I don't want to hate  
> And I don't want to see you fall too far away  
> All because of fear.  
> 'Cause when you're afraid  
> You lash out at me  
> And you say all the things you never meant to say  
> And try to break me.  
> But in the end what leaves you broken  
> Only makes you better
> 
> -Better by Plumb

Bucky was alone in the house.

The alpha, Steve, had left for work. Apparently, he was a trainer at some gym. He had said he was famous, although Bucky had never heard of him before, and he had a YouTube channel and a TV series. Steve had told Bucky that he had full range of the house, including the TV and computer, but that he was not allowed to go outside. Steve had said that when Bucky got hungry, he could make himself a sandwich or heat up some soup (Bucky mentally decided on the sandwich- he didn't trust himself with the stove). Steve had shown Bucky his book collection, his Xbox, and his shower, in case Bucky wanted to clean himself more than the sponge bath Steve had given himself last night had done.

Bucky decided on the shower, seeing as he hadn't had a proper one in 4 years. Hydra had a "shower station," as they called it, which the omegas were allowed to use once a month.

All the omegas were herded into a room that was covered ceiling-to-floor in tile. They lined up behind the 5 shower heads and waited for their turns. The water was ice-cold and each omega was given only 10 seconds to wash, or else an alpha or beta guard would start to beat them with their clubs. The omegas were given a thin, tiny towel to dry themselves off and then to hand it to the next omega. The last omega to use it had to hang the towel on a rack to be used next month. The towels rarely got washed.

Bucky spun the handle of the guest bathroom shower until it pointed to the red area. He stuck his hand under the water. It was cold.

He stripped down in the middle of the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror over the sinks. He winced. He looked terrible. There were no mirrors at Hydra, so Bucky had never seen what he looked like, but he was sure that he wasn't supposed to look this way normally.

He was stick-thin, with knobby arms and legs. His hair came down to his shoulders and was tangled and clumped with dry blood. He had huge bags underneath his eyes and his lips were cracked and bleeding slightly. His body was bruised and bandaged, although nothing looked broken. His skin was so pale that he could see his veins. If he weren't standing and staring at himself in the mirror right now, Bucky would think he was dead.

His metal arm connected strangely with his flesh. It looked out of place with the rest of his body; large and silver.

He turned away from his reflection and tested the temperature of the water again. It was warm now.

Bucky sighed as he stepped into the shower. The water was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. He just stood under the spray, letting it roll over his back and his head, shutting his eyes and enjoying the peace for what seemed like the first time in his life. 

After a while, he wiped the water out of his eyes and inspected Steve's soaps and shampoos that the alpha had moved into the guest bathroom for him.

Bucky grabbed his coconut body wash and squirted some into his hand. He spread it over his arms, his chest and stomach, and his legs, raising his flesh arm once he was done and sniffing it.  The body wash smelled good.

This was nothing like Bucky was used to.

Twice a year, Hydra had allowed the omegas to use body wash. It came in tiny bottles and there were allowed no more than 2 squirts. Bucky remembered that one time an omega took more than was allowed and got a severe beating that resulted in him passing out from the pain. Bucky never saw the omega again after that day.

Bucky picked up the shampoo bottle and pumped some in his hand. He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling through the snarls. He ducked his head under the water, washing off the shampoo. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the water running down the drain had turned pink with his blood.

Once he finished he shower, Bucky turned off the water and wrapped himself in a fluffy, white towel. It smelled like Steve, the omega discovered, and he couldn't help but bury his nose in it, breathing in deeply. The calming alpha scent was strange but enthralling to him. If he was going to be living with Steve for some time, he would need to gather all the information he could about the weird alpha. 

Bucky was getting used to the alpha's scent. It was everywhere in the house, engulfing Bucky in pine and the smell of old books and leather. It had tickled his nose at first, making him want to sneeze, but now he didn't mind it. Maybe he was even beginning to like it.

 _No. No way_ , Bucky told himself firmly, shaking his head. So Steve might be a little bit nicer than most alphas, but Bucky was just waiting for him to turn around and overpower and rape him.

Bucky dried himself off gently, careful of his wounds. He slipped back into the clothes that Steve had given him, hanging up his towel and walking out of the steamy bathroom, shivering slightly at the change in temperature.

_What should I do now?_

Bucky glanced at the clock in the hallway, seeing that it was only 9:30. He had 8 1/2 hours until Steve got home.

_I could snoop around Steve's room._

Bucky bit his lip, decided. He knew that it wasn't right, but he really did want to learn what kind of alpha Steve was.

He remember back when Steve had said that they were true mates. Bucky didn't believe that there was such a thing...did he? Anyway, could he have ever seen himself living with Steve, having his pups?

 _If I can ever have any more pups,_ Bucky thought.  _What the hell? Why am I even thinking about this?_

He crept into Steve's room, wondering why he was doing it so quietly, seeing as he was the only person in the house.

The walls were painted a pale yellow color, and the bed had dark blue covers that contrasted nicely with the walls. Two bedside tables stood on either side of the bed, both in dark wood. The curtains on both of the windows were flung open wide, allowing light to make the whole room seem bigger. The only other furniture in the room were a white armchair near a tall bookcase and the alpha's dresser.

Bucky walked over to a bedside table and picked up the picture that was standing there.

It was surrounded by a golden frame with intricate details. The photo itself was a picture of a pretty young woman with wavy blonde hair holding a chubby 3-year-old. The woman was smiling wide, her eyes crinkling. The toddler had his mouth open, showing off his tiny teeth. Both of their eyes were bright blue.

 _Steve_ , Bucky realized. _And probably his mom._

Bucky set the photo down and glanced around Steve's room. There was nothing really out in the open that screamed that Steve was a mass murderer, so Bucky decided to dig deeper.

He opened the top drawer of Steve's dresser, but only found it full of boxers. Bucky tried the second drawer. Socks and undershirts. He moved them around, trying to find a journal or something, but finding none, he moved to the middle drawer. It was full of clothes like the ones Bucky was wearing. The next drawer, however, held something that got Bucky's attention.

All that was in it was a small, leather-bound journal. Bucky picked it up and opened it to where the bookmark was. It was a drawing of a man. He was baring his teeth, rage in his eyes. One hand was lifted up by his cheek, curled into a fist like he was going to punch someone. Bucky frowned down at the drawing. The man looked familiar, but he couldn't place him. Bucky studied his features, his eyes skimming over the man's jawline, nose, and lips. Then it hit him, why he looked so familiar.

He looked like Steve.

 _His father, maybe?_ Bucky thought, flipping the page over. He didn't want to dwell on the picture too much, it looked so real that Bucky had been starting to wonder if he was going to explode through the paper and punch Bucky's face.

Bucky flipped through the pages of Steve's sketchbook. The alpha had mostly drawn people, although there were a few sketches of landscapes and animals. Bucky's favorite one would have to be a drawing of a monkey holding an umbrella and a shield, riding on a unicycle on a tightrope, above a crowd of clowns.

The very first drawing was a very good replica of the photo on Steve's bedside table. Steve had written "To Sarah Rogers" in loopy handwriting beside the woman's face.

 _I wonder if she's still alive_ , Bucky thought as he shut the sketchbook and returned it to its proper place. He gently slid the drawer close and stood up. There was a framed picture hanging on the wall, it looked like a diploma of some kind.

Sure enough, when Bucky walked closer, it was a diploma to "Steven Grant Rogers" from New York University.

Bucky sighed. Besides the sketchbook, there seemed to be nothing else in Steve's room that told Bucky what kind of alpha he was.

_God, I'm gonna get so bored now. Maybe I'll watch some TV..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky has no sense of privacy.


	6. Tony

If Tony would use one word to describe the new intern, it would be energetic.

He was a young omega, only 21 years old, with wavy brown hair and brown eyes. When Tony had first opened the door, he was met with big eyes and a light blue sweater. Tony had almost laughed out loud. The omega looked like a classic geek.

But he quickly showed himself to be extremely smart. He was quick (although not very careful) and listened to whatever Tony told him to do, including taking out the trash.

"I'm telling you, Rhodey, this kid's amazing!" Tony said, talking on the phone to his friend, Rhodey Rhodes.

"Really? What'd he do?"

"He took out my trash."

Rhodey laughed on the other end of the line. "Wow! He should win an awad!"

Tony rolled his eyes.

"You only like it 'cause Pepper never does it. Where is she today, anyway?"

"She's out with her friends. They said they needed some 'girl time'," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "They're getting their nails painted or something."

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony whirled around. It was the omega, Peter Parker, poking his head in Tony's office.

"Yeah?"

"Er, what should I do now?"

"Hang on just a sec. After I finish this call, we'll eat lunch."

Peter perked up at the mention of food. "Yeah! Sure thing, Mr. Stark," he said, then shut the door.

"Was that him?" Rhodey asked.

"Yeah. His name's Peter," Tony said, pacing in his office.

"Has Pepper met him yet?"

"No. And he'll be gone when she comes back. She thinks it's a good idea."

"She's not jealous that you're spending time with another omega?"

"Oh, come on Rhodey, she knows that I won't cheat on her."

"Hmm-mmm. Bye."

Tony rolled his eyes as he hung up the phone. Of course, he wouldn't cheat on Pepper. They had been dating for almost 6 years now, and they were still going strong. Tony had asked Pepper tons of times if she wanted to get mated, but every single time Pepper had refused and said that she wasn't ready to be tied down yet. It hurt Tony, but he knew that he had to respect Pepper's wishes and be a good alpha.

When Tony walked into the kitchen, Peter was rummaging around in the fridge.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked, smirking.

Peter whirled around, his eyes wide.

"Um, hi Mr. Stark! I was just, um...looking for stuff for sandwiches!"

"It's in the deli drawer," Tony said. "Would you mind getting it?"

"Not at all," Peter said, grabbing the cheese and meat. He dumped it on Tony's huge kitchen island.

"Thank you. Bread?"

"Er, yeah! Of course."

Tony got out 2 plates and started assembling the sandwiches, one for him and one for Peter.

"Hope you like turkey and cheese," he said, placing a plate in front of Peter. The omega shrugged.

"I don't care," he said, picking up the sandwich and taking a bite.

As they ate, Tony studied the omega. He was pretty cute, Tony guessed, with a nice jawline and thin lips. He tall for an omega, 2 inches above the average height and only a little bit shorter than Tony.

Peter reached up and ran a hand through his hair. Tony tracked the movement, mesmerized.

He shook himself. What the hell was he doing? He had Pepper and he wasn't going to cheat on her with his intern, for Christ's sake.

But did he really have Pepper? Maybe the reason why she kept refusing to mate with him was because she was getting tired of him. Tony sighed and put his sandwich down. He wasn't hungry anymore.

"Are you okay, Mr. Stark?"

The omega's adorable voice interrupted his thoughts. Tony turned and smiled at Peter.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Does your aunt let you play Battlefield 3?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little Tony/Peter.


	7. Steve

"Sam, you'll never guess what happened."

"You lost your job."

"What? No."

"Oh my god. Don't tell me you took Sharon Carter out on a date but you screwed it up really badly and tried to flirt with her but she took it as an insult and now she hates you forever and you've made a promise to yourself to never date again and die alone? "

"Where the hell did you get that from? But no... I found my mate."

"Wait, what?"

Steve smirked as he swerved into the right line, driving back home from a long day at his gym. "Yup. Last night, while I was driving home, he was on the side of the road, barely alive."

"Jesus, Steve. You take in strays now?"

"Seriously Sam."

"Alright! Alright! I'm sorry. So what's his name and why was he in the street?"

"He doesn't remember his name, but I call him Bucky. He's in really bad shape. I'm pretty sure he was raped or something, and he thinks that all alphas are trying to make his life a constant hell, even me. He punched me. Twice."

"Oh, ouch. It looks like you got yourself a broken omega. Where is he now?"

"At my house."

"What? Steve, he could either trash your house or run away!"

Steve could hear the shock and slight anger in Sam's voice. He frowned. He and Sam shared very different views on broken omegas, omegas who were physically and mentally hurt. Sam didn't trust them, while Steve wanted to help and care for them. But then again, Steve wanted to help everyone.

"Bucky wouldn't do that. I specifically told him not to leave the house."

"And you think he'll do what you say?"

"Um, yeah."

Sam sighed. "Jesus, Steve."

"Whatever, man. I gotta go. I'm home now."

"Sure. See you tomorrow," Sam said before hanging up. Steve cursed under his breath. He had completely forgotten about tomorrow night, when he and all his friends had decided to meet up for dinner at P.F. Chang's. What was he supposed to do with Bucky? He had left early so that he could make dinner for the omega tonight. Could he just leave Bucky at home for 11 hours?

 _Of course, you can. He'll be fine. He's not some dog that needs to be paid attention to. He's a human and doesn't even like you anyway_ , Steve told himself firmly as he was getting out of the car.

When he unlocked the door and entered his house, he was disappointed to not see Bucky immediately.

"Why the hell would he be down here, anyway?" he muttered to himself. "He may be your true mate, but that doesn't mean your mated. He'll probably leave once he's healed."

Steve shook himself, taking off his jacket and shoes. He was planning on making chicken orzo soup tonight, a recipe that his mom had passed down to him. He whistled as he opened the fridge and took out chicken breast pieces.

"Oh."

Steve whirled around, surprised to see Bucky standing there. He was wearing the same clothes as he was this morning, although he looked a lot better. The dead look in his eyes was gone, and his hair was no longer matted and dry. Steve guessed he took a shower.

"Er... How was your day?" Steve asked as politely as he could, trying not to sound weird or creepy.

Bucky shrugged, glancing awkwardly around. He paused for a moment, then turned around and left, walking back up the stairs.

Steve sighed.

 _One day_ , he promised himself. _One day I'll get passed that grumpy teenager attitude._

Once Steve finished making the soup, he walked upstairs and knocked on Bucky's door. He was greeted with a grunt.

"Um...dinner's ready. It's chicken orzo soup, which is like chicken noodle soup, but with rice-like things instead of the noddles. It's really good and I don't know if you've had anything like it before..." Steve awkwardly trailed off, realizing that he was rambling.

He froze outside Bucky's door, waiting for a response. He jumped back when the door swung open, revealing the omega.

Silently, he brushed past Steve and made his way downstairs.

 _It's like talking to a freaking teenager_ , Steve thought, rubbing his temples. Even though he was small and skinny, Steve guessed that Bucky was in his mid-20s, maybe a little bit earlier. It would be almost impossible for him to be in his teen years since he said that he was raped for 4 years, and you have to be at least 16 to present.

Once in the kitchen, Steve dished out two bowls, setting one in front of Bucky. The omega immediately tore into it, slurping loud as he devoured the soup like he was starving.

"Did you eat lunch?" Steve asked.

Without even looking up, Bucky shook his head.

"Why not?"

Bucky shrugged, staring down at his now empty bowl.

"Do you want more?" Steve pressed.

"Yes," Bucky mumbled. Steve sighed but picked up Bucky's bowl. He refilled it and handed it back over to him.

"How was your day?" Steve asked, just trying to make conversation.

"Fine," Bucky answered, not looking Steve in the eye. He frowned.

"What did you do?"

"Um...I watched TV."

"Like what?"

"Kinda whatever was on."

Steve smiled as Bucky's voice got louder and clearer.

"Was there anything you really liked?"

Bucky shrugged. "ABC was interesting."

"Are you finished?" Steve asked, pointing to Bucky's bowl. He nodded, and Steve grabbed Bucky's bowl, carrying it over to the sink to wash it.

Bucky almost immediately jumped up and rushed over to where Steve froze, just in front of the sink. Bucky didn't look Steve in the eye, but held out his hands, glancing down at the floor, and said, "I'm sorry, I can do that." 

"No, it's really okay," he said. Bucky shrugged and glanced down at his hands, fitting his mismatched fingers together. Steve bit his lip. 

"Do you want to watch something with me?" Steve asked, hoping to cheer the omega up. But Bucky just shook his head and said, "I was gonna go to bed."

"Oh, okay." Steve tried not to sound too disappointed. "Good night, then."

Bucky nodded and left the kitchen. Steve leaned against his kitchen island and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He understood that Bucky didn't trust alphas and whatnot, but he had to at least give Steve a chance. And he had to learn that just because he was an omega didn't mean that he was Steve's slave or something.

 _Could he have been in an abusive relationship?_ Steve thought.  _Like he was some slave to an alpha who forced him to do everything?_

 God, living with an omega was a lot harder than he thought.


	8. Bucky

He was walking down a long, dimly lit corridor. His vision swam; he felt like he was going to fall over. All around him, people pressed in. He sniffed them. They were all omegas.

"Please!" one of them said, grabbing at his arm. "Please help us!"

He stared down at her, his eyes wide. Half of her hair was missing and she had an enormous gash on the side of her head.

He took a step forward and suddenly, he was falling down a long hole. It was white at the bottom, and as he was falling it was getting colder.

He fell into a sheetless bed. His arms and legs were tied down and he was screaming, begging to be let free. Someone was leaning over him, shining a bright light in his face.

"Yes, he'll do perfectly," the man said, smiling. The man reached towards his face, but he rolled off the bed onto the cold, metal floor of a cell. He was crying, curled up into a ball, with his arms wrapped around his stomach.

"That bitch needs to be taught a lesson," said a far off voice.

The sudden appearance of a high-pitched noise made him clamp his hands over his ears, his eyes scrunching uptight. His head felt like it was being split in two, and black dots danced in front of his eyes.

Then the noise faded and he slowly opened his eyes.

He was back in the corridor, but this time he was the only person there. He was walking, then he was crawling, forward towards the double doors at the end of the hall, though they never seemed to be getting any closer.

His stomach started to hurt like it was being clawed open from the inside. He glanced down at it. There was something coming out of him. His belly erupted, and a misshapen humanoid tumbled to the floor, screeching and covered with blood.

He screamed, his eyes glued to the creature as it raised its head and stared at him with empty eye sockets.

"Bucky!"

 

Bucky was pulled from his nightmare into a soft bed, wrapped in strong arms.

He was crying, tears and snot covering his face.

"Shh, shh. It's alright. It was just a nightmare. You're here now. You're safe."

Bucky relaxed in Steve's arms for a moment, then pushed the alpha off. He turned away from Steve, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and wiping his face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Steve asked gently after a moment.

"No," Bucky said firmly. "I want you to go away."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Bucky almost shouted.

He heard Steve get up and walk away slowly, shutting the door behind him as he left Bucky's room.

Bucky crawled back under the covers. He started to cry again. Try as he might, he couldn't get the dream out of his head and it kept returning, the omegas, the bright light, the thing that came out of him. He curled into a ball and buried his face in the pillow, trying to fall back asleep.

But no sleep came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky, why can't you just trust Steve and let him comfort you?!


	9. Steve

Steve was stupid. Really stupid.

_You couldn't leave him alone. You just had to ask him, and now he hates you. Well, more so than usual. God, you're an idiot._

The morning after Bucky's nightmare, Steve had asked Bucky if he was alright and what the nightmare was about. He was given the death glare, but still, that didn't scare him off. So he decided to ask if Bucky wanted to talk about what had happened two days ago that had caused him to be thrown out on the side of the road.

The omega had shook his head, his hands clenching into fists.

Then Steve asked if he had been raped.

His black eye that Bucky's metal arm had given him still hadn't disappeared, even after two straight hours of icing it. And now he was on his way to meet his friends at P.F. Chang's, who were sure ask him about it. Steve wondered if he could tell them about Bucky, assuming they didn't know from Sam already.

So he wore a dark blue baseball cap, pulling it down low and hoping that he didn't look like a creep alpha.

Steve was the last one there at their 7:30 reservation for 12. His friends were easily the rowdiest group there was in the entire restaurant, laughing and talking loudly. At one point, as Steve was walking over to them, he saw one of them stand up and spread his arms, before being hastily pulled back down into his seat by another.

"Hey! It's Fossil!"

Steve waved awkwardly to Natasha, who had just finished arguing with Clint about something. Steve sat down at the end of the table, next to Thor and Sam. Thor clapped him on the shoulder, grinning widely.

"Where'd you get the shiner?" Tony asked from the opposite side of the table.

"You beat up some alpha looking in a chick's skirt?" Natasha said, taking a sip of her beer.

"Um...no. Not exactly."

Steve fidgeted, debating in his head whether or whether not to tell them about Bucky.

"Do you have some sort of pain kink?" Scott piped up, tipping his head to the side, smirking.

"Ew, no. What the hell, Scott? It's from an omega living at my house."

Next to Steve, Sam's eyebrows raised, but everybody else at the table broke out in a chorus of "Ooooh"s.

"Oh, come on guys! It's not like that," Steve said. "I found him on the side of the road so I took him into my house. He's a little, um...feisty."

"He's broken," Sam put in. Steve jabbed him sharply in the ribs.

The table was silent for a moment. Steve glanced down at his empty plate, suddenly wondering if he should have come at all.

"Well, I think that's good of you," said Laura, Clint's wife and mate. "You'll make his life better."

Bruce, Clint, Thor, Wanda and Scott all nodded, while Tony, Victor (Vision), T'Challa, Rhodey, and Natasha frowned stared down at their hands.

"So how'd the first day with your intern go, Tony?" Clint asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Oh, fine, yeah. He's awesome," Tony said.

"What's his name again?" Wanda asked.

"Peter Parker," Tony replied. "He's young, smart and can keep up with me. Just the kind of intern I need."

"Hey, what about me?" Rhodey said, spreading his hands.

"You're not my intern. You're my friend who likes to work with me. And besides, you're degenerating. You're like forty, man," Tony said.

Rhodey fake gasped. "How dare you! Anyway, I thought Steve was the old man." Every one chuckled and Steve smiled, happy that they had gotten over the awkwardness before.

"Well, Wanda and I have a surprise," Victor said, smiling and holding his mate's hand. "Wanda's pregnant."

"With twins!" Wanda threw in as everyone was cheering and congratulating them.

"When's the due date?" Bruce demanded.

"June 12th," Wanda said, grinning.

"What are you thinking of naming them?" Laura asked, beaming. She loved kids and had three of her own with Clint, the youngest of which was almost a year old.

"Probably William Victor and Thomas Pietro," Wanda said.

Everybody started talking about kids and when they were kids and what it would be like if they had kids, etc. When the food arrived, Steve dug into the noodles that Sam had ordered for him and listened in on Thor talking with Natasha about his dad. When Steve thought about it, nearly every one of his friends had some sort of tragic backstory that involved the death of a loved one.

 _It's like the one thing we all have in common,_ Steve thought.

For dessert, they ordered 3 great walls of China and split it between the 12 of them, then complained afterward how they shouldn't have done that and that they would need to work out extra this week.

"That's easy for Fossil," Natasha said. "Working out is literally his job."

Steve shrugged. "Well, you're job is what you're good at, right?"

After they split up the check, they said their goodbyes.

"See you on Monday," Sam said to Steve while they were walking to their cars.

"Bring a friend to the gym!" Steve shouted at Sam's retreating back. Sam threw a thumb's up over his shoulder.

Steve smiled as he got into his car. Then he sighed.

Crap, I forgot about Bucky, he thought. He had been planning to bring some food home to Bucky so that he could try Chinese, but he completely forgot.

Jesus, you can't get anything right, can you, Steve? he thought, running a hand through his hair. You can't shut up, you can't leave him alone, you can't even remember about him! God, I'm going to be a horrible alpha.

Steve had been expecting to find Bucky in his bedroom, with the door locked and only one light on, as he was normally. But when he got home, he found Bucky passed out on the couch, with ABC on. Steve smiled. Bucky was curled up on his side, with a blanket draped over him and tucked up under his chin. His mouth was parted slightly and he was softly snoring. His eyelashes fluttered as he dreamed something that hopefully wasn't going to turn into a nightmare.

Steve was reaching out, his fingertips just centimeters from Bucky's cheek, ready to brush his fallen hair out of his face, when Bucky awoke, his mouth parting in a yaw and stretching his arms out in front of him.

Steve jerked his hand away and took a few steps back just before the omega opened his eyes.

Bucky stared at Steve for a while, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

"How was dinner?" he asked awkwardly. Steve just nodded.

"Hey, um..." Bucky sat up, the blanket falling off of him. "I-I'm sorry."

Steve tipped his head and asked, "What for?"

"Um, the black eye."

Steve reached his hand up and gently touched his right eye. He had almost forgotten about it. It didn't hurt that much anymore, although it was blocking part of his view.

"Oh, it's fine," Steve said, his eyes tracing over Bucky's face, which looked...sad.

"Are you sure? 'Cause it looks really bad."

"No, it doesn't hurt that much anymore." Steve sat down next to Bucky, who scooted over a bit to give the alpha more room. "What are you watching?"

"Once Upon A Time," Bucky said, sounding louder and slightly more chipper. "It's pretty good."

Steve nodded. He had heard of it before, of course, but he never really took the time to watch it. Steve watched the entire show with Bucky sitting next to him, not once moving away or escaping to his room.

Steve felt pretty damn well proud of himself.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Steve and Bucky finally getting somewhere! Plz don't kill me for the no update in 4 days...  
> BTW, the great wall of china (chocolate cake) at P.F. Chang's is literally the best thing a mortal human can ever make.


	10. Bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little fluff ;)  
> Woohoo!!!!!!!!!! It's an update!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the next week, things seemed to go pretty well living with Steve. Steve and Bucky had fallen into a bit of a routine. Steve would wake up a 6:30 sharp, take a shower, get dressed and go downstairs by 7:15. He would make breakfast, which usually consisted of meat, bread, and eggs, then eat quickly and be out of the house by 7:45. Bucky would then come downstairs, eat the food that Steve had left over for him and wait around the house until Steve came home, when they would eat dinner together and watch TV together, then retire to their appropriate rooms for the night.

For Bucky, it wasn't so bad. He got his privacy that needed and he had time during the day to read, take naps, eat and watch TV. He even did one of Steve's many puzzles, but then destroyed it before the alpha got home because he didn't actually know if he was allowed to or not.

Bucky's cuts and scrapers were healing up very nicely as well. Most of the bruises had gone away, although there was one particularly nasty one on his thigh that hurt whenever he touched it.

On Saturday, when Bucky had been at Steve's for 3 days, Steve went out to Target and bought Bucky actual clothes, not pjs. He bought him 4 different jeans, 2 solid colored t-shirts, a plaid shirt, and a red henley shirt, because he didn't know what Bucky liked.

The bags under Bucky's eyes disappeared and his skin wasn't as pale. Thanks to the chapstick Steve had bought him, Bucky's lips didn't bleed occasionally and it didn't hurt to eat or talk anymore. His muscles were getting stronger, though there was no way he could lift 40-pound weights (well, maybe he could with his metal arm, but no way in hell with his normal arm).

On Monday, Bucky had ventured down into Steve's basement, into the workout room. Steve had given him permission to use the TV down there, as well as a list of how to navigate through the workouts, and which ones he should do first, etc. Bucky had watched some of Steve's videos, then gave up and decided to try jogging in place and some jumping jacks and crunches, which proved themselves nearly impossible to do after 4 years of hell.

Feeling embarrassed even though there was no one else in the house, Bucky left quickly and promised himself that he would try again later.

The nightmare hadn't returned in full, although Bucky still dreamed about the misshapen fetus clawing its way out of his body. He would wake up, sweating, his heart beating a mile a minute, thankful that he hadn't screamed again. He didn't want Steve coming in his room, seeing him at his lowest point.

Steve had proved himself not a threat to Bucky. He was nice and funny and left Bucky alone when he needed it. Steve would talk about his day during dinner, and Bucky soon found himself excited to hear what Steve had to say every evening. Bucky learned all about Steve's weird co-workers, how it was so annoying that the coffee machine at the gym didn't work unless you hit the buttons a certain way, and about Steve's friend, Sam.

Bucky was actually starting to like living at Steve's house.

On the second Saturday with Steve, Bucky awoke to find snow falling down. It was really nothing like he'd expected.

The snow fell down gracefully, riding the wind, spirling and dancing its way to the ground. Bucky had never seen the actual process of snowing before; he had always thought that it snowed heavily, like rain.

As he peeked out into Steve's yard, he saw the alpha himself out in the snow, pushing a ball of snow around.

Bucky frowned. _What is he doing?_

He glanced at the clock. It was already 10:15.

_Jesus, I've slept in late._

Bucky dressed quickly, then made his way downstairs. Steve had left chocolate chip pancakes out for him. Bucky loaded 3 on a plate and heated them up in the microwave.

He ate at lightning speed, eager to go outside and see what Steve was doing.

Once he was done, he poked his head outside, shivering slightly at the sudden cold draft.

"Steve!" he called.

The alpha stopped what he was doing and turned, grinning and waving to Bucky.

"What are you doing?"

"Building a snowman!" the blonde yelled back, gesturing to his ball of snow. Bucky frowned, tipping his head. Steve motioned for Bucky to come to him. Bucky paused. He didn't have a coat, and he knew that it would be freezing out if he just went out like he was now, in his pajamas.

"Wear my coat," Steve suggested, like he was reading his mind, then resumed pushing the ball around in the snow to make it bigger.

Bucky ducked back into the warmth of the house, shutting the door. He grabbed one of Steve's winter jackets in the mudroom and put it on. It was a little big, but not as big as he'd expected. It didn't hang off of him like he was a skeleton.

 _I guess I've gained some weight_ , Bucky thought, reaching for Steve's boots.

Once he was ready, he ventured outside. The jacket did an excellent job of keeping out the winter wind. He pulled the knit hat farther down on his head, wondering if it was going to fall off.

"I'm making a snowman," Steve explained. "Care to join me?"

"Um, a what?"

"A snowman. It's literally what it sounds like. A man made out of snow."

Bucky wrinkled his nose. "Why?"

Steve shrugged, grinning. "Why not?"

"Eh, fair enough."

Steve showed Bucky how to make a top-of-the-line snowman, how to pack the snow perfectly, how to roll it without it falling apart. It was pretty fun, Bucky guessed, but long and annoying when the snowball fell apart.

Finally, they were almost done, and all there was left to do was to put the head on and decorate him.

Bucky picked up the enormous snowball in his hands, slightly surprised at the weight of it. Steve had put the other one on, and when he did it, it didn't look too hard. Bucky walked awkwardly over to the snowman, raising his arms to put the head on. It wobbled in his hands, threatening to fall over.

Quick as a snake, Steve was there, his arms wrapped around Bucky to hold the head steady. He helped the omega put on the last ball that made up the snowman's shape.

Bucky was aware of Steve's arms around him. He could feel his face growing warm. The only other time that they had been this close was when they were beating each other up.

Bucky turned his head, his eyes staring straight into Steve's. He had never really noticed how blue the alpha's eyes were. They were like the sky right then, a beautiful, light blue without another color in sight. Steve's scent washed over him, pine and leather and old books, nice and comforting.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, Steve basically hugging Bucky, and Bucky's face so close to the other's, but lips not touching.

Suddenly, Steve stepped away, one hand shooting up to rub at his neck.

"Um...sorry. I just, um, I-i didn't want you to, you know, drop it," he stuttered out, his face turning red.

_Was he blushing?_

"Yeah, no, it's okay," Bucky said quickly. "Do you wanna, um, make his face and stuff?"

Steve nodded, glancing down to the ground.

They found rocks for his eyes and mouth and sticks for his arms. Once Steve grabbed a carrot and stuck it in the snow, their snowman was complete.

"This is Chris," he announced, grinning widely. He was adorable when he smiled.

"Chris the snowman?" Bucky asked, smiling. Then he realized that this was the first time he smiled since as long as he remembered, and that only made him smile more.

"Care to go inside for some hot chocolate?" Steve asked, his eyes glittering in the sun.

Bucky nodded, completely happy.

_Maybe everything will be all right._

 


	11. Steve

**February 2018**

Ever since college, Steve had lived by himself. He had made breakfast for just himself, he had washed clothes for just himself, he had gotten used to his house being filled with just his scent.

And then Bucky came along.

Not that Steve was complaining, Bucky's scent was amazing, but just waking up in the morning and remembering that there was another human being in the house had taken some getting used to. Bucky was quiet and mysterious and didn't like Steve pressing in on his personal life. That was evident from the black eye Steve had received when Bucky had first gotten there.

A month had gone by, and Steve was slowly adjusting to living with an omega.

Bucky had healed up nice and quick, and he was talking more, but he was probably never going to completely trust other people and open up. Which was a shame, because Steve was really starting to like Bucky.

Liked him to the extent that Steve could see himself dating Bucky, but not the Bucky he was now. There was no way in hell the Bucky now would date anybody, no matter if they were Steve or not.

Steve had to push away his feelings, knowing that even if Bucky did like him (which was like a 1% chance), they wouldn't end up together and Bucky would leave before they could confess their feeling towards each other. Not that Bucky would do that in the first place.

Steve knew that the other was anxious to leave Steve's house. He had seen it in the way Bucky stared out the windows, his eyes misted over, staring at nothing in particular, just outside.

Steve had let him go in the backyard, of course, but he wasn't sure whether Bucky was ready to be in public yet.

Correction, he wasn't sure whether he was ready for Bucky to be in public yet.

Steve had told himself countless times that Bucky was a strong omega with a freaking metal arm who would do just fine on his own, but his stupid protective alpha side always took over and said one more week...

And so one more week turned into one month, and Steve found himself doubting if he'd actually make a good alpha or not.

Eventually, he managed to push his dominant side down, and he found himself, early in February, standing in front of Bucky and asking him if he'd want to go out to dinner.

Bucky tipped his head, frowning. "Like...together?" he asked.

Crap, Steve thought. I'm an idiot.

"Well, just to get you out of the house."

"Um..."

"Is that a yes?"

Bucky shrugged. They stood silently for an awkward moment before Bucky said, "Yeah. Sure. I'll go to dinner with you." Ugh, that just makes it sound like a date, Steve thought as he slipped his jacket over his shoulders. And I'm damn sure Bucky isn't the omega you date.

Steve took them to Smashburger, not sure what Bucky would like. When Bucky's eyes light up when he read the menu, Steve guessed that he made the right choice. Bucky ordered the bacon cheeseburger and Steve got the avocado club, his usual. They ate quickly, then sat in awkward silence afterward.

"Did you like your burger?" Steve asked after a pause.

Bucky nodded, the edges of his lips tugging up into a sliver of a smile.

"Do you come here often?" Bucky asked. Steve shrugged. "I guess," he said. "Usually I come here like every other week. The food here is really good."

At that moment, a group of 2 alphas and a beta sat down at the table next to them. Steve cast a glance over at the group. They were all muscle and leather, tough looking and tattooed. Bucky stiffened and leaned away from them, making a face. Steve scented the air discreetly, but all he could smell was alpha. He guessed that Bucky smelled something different, something that repulsed him. 

"You wanna leave now?" Steve asked softly, relieved when Bucky nodded eagerly. He didn't like the look of the alphas and beta at all.

When they grabbed their trash and stood up to throw it away, Steve heard one alpha whistle.

"Damn, now that's an ass. Wish I had a thing like that to pound," he murmured to his buddies, so quiet that anybody else couldn't hear but Steve, who was already listening closely to them.

Steve whirled around, his eyes blazing. The alpha glanced up at him innocently.

"Something the matter, son?" he snarled, flexing his biceps. Steve's jaw clenched.

"Shut the hell up," he managed to grunt out.

"You got a problem with us, kid?" the beta challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I do," Steve said, taking a step towards them. He was aware that he was getting himself into a fight that he probably couldn't win by himself.

"Shut the fuck up and mind your own business."

Steve glanced back, surprised to hear those words from Bucky's mouth. The omega was glaring at the alphas and beta, looking murderous. He reached out and grabbed Steve's arm, pulling him away.

Steve just let Bucky lead him away, too impressed at the omega to say anything. As they passed back by the alphas and beta, Bucky stared the largest alphas straight in the face and hissed out a word that would have made Steve's mother wash his mouth out with soap.

The car ride back was silent, as Bucky was still fuming. Steve quietly said his name once they were back in Steve's garage.

"I hate it, Steve," Bucky snarled out. "I hate it. We're treated like we're nothing, like we're just holes to pound into. All alphas are the same. They think they're so cool, just because they have a knot." He let out a growl of frustration, one that sounded alpha-like. "If I would have been given the chance, I would have beaten up every single one of them."

And with that, Bucky got out of the car and stomped into the house. Steve sat by himself, slightly stunned. He had never met an omega like Bucky before, one who wasn't going to take the world's crap without a fight.

Steve was pretty certain that the every single one of thems weren't the assholes at Smashburger.

***

A week later, Bucky had finally calmed down and started talking to Steve normally again. Bucky had never said if he trusted Steve or not, but Steve was judging by the fact that he wasn't dead yet that Bucky did trust him.

One night, Steve had stayed late at the gym to clean up a little. He had just finished sweeping all the hair from the women and was putting the broom away when he heard a soft "Steve" from behind him.

He whirled around, startled to see Sharon Carter there.

"Oh...hey, Sharon," he said awkwardly.

She smiled, moving closer to him. "I just wanted to thank you. You've really gotten me into shape."

I'm not doing this just for you, Steve thought, wanting to get home already. A month ago, he would've still been into Sharon, but now...he wasn't so sure.

Sharon stepped right up into his personal space and reached out, gently touching his hand. Before he knew what was happening, she was kissing him. Steve froze, his eyes wide as we realized what was happening.

Sharon was kissing him.

_Sharon._

He should've kissed back, should've raised a hand and kissed her back, should've done anything.

_But Bucky._

He pushed her away, his mouth hanging open. She frowned, looking confused and hurt.

"Steve?" she asked gently. Steve shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Sharon was nice and pretty and right here and eager, but...there was Bucky.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, hoping that she wouldn't hate him. "I could work out, but I'm just not..." He trailed off awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"But there's another omega," Sharon said, nodding. "It's okay, I can smell her on you." She looked disappointed as she grabbed her purse, slinging it over her shoulder. Steve's mind was reeling. _Who was the she?_ Steve couldn't think of any other female omega he knew besides Sharon, Madison Snoeyink and Pepper Potts. And he was pretty damn sure it wasn't Madison or Pepper.

 _Maybe it's Bucky?_ Steve bit his lip. He was honestly surprised that he and Bucky had been around each other long enough that other people could smell Bucky on him. He couldn't help but wonder if Bucky smelled like him...

Before he could blink, Sharon was gone and he was by himself.

***

"Hey. Did you stay late or something?"

Steve didn't reply, but breathed in Bucky's amazing scent of honey. It was starting to grow familiar to him, almost like he had known it forever. He couldn't help but feel relaxed and calm whenever he smelled Bucky, the stress of the day just being lifted off his shoulders.

"Um, yeah," Steve said absentmindedly. He sat down on the couch with Bucky, who was watching some National Geographic program about cheetahs. Bucky frowned, sniffing the air.

"What is that?" he demanded, almost accusingly. Steve blinked, glancing over at him. Bucky's scent revealed that he was pissed off and a little bit hurt.

"What is what?"

Bucky glared at Steve. "That scent on you... is that an omega?"

Wait, what?

Steve shifted uncomfortably, not knowing how to respond. "Um...yes?"

"Why do you smell like omega?" Bucky snapped, accusingly.

"Erm, I just got a surprise kiss from one of my clients, is all," he replied, not exactly sure what to say. He was pretty sure that whatever he said would only piss Bucky off more.

"Did you kiss her back?"

Bucky's sharp question caught Steve off-guard. Why would he care? Unless... Steve's heart fluttered for a fraction of a second, but then the common sense side of his brain pushed it down.

"No..."

Bucky scoffed and nodded, seeming satisfied, and turned back to the tv. And that was the end of the conversation.

Steve sighed in his mind, wondering why the hell omegas were so complicated. Bucky was still angry, although the scent was changing very subtly to contain the faintest hint of sour lemon. He knew what that sour scent meant on omegas.

Jealousy.

_Bucky's jealous? Of what?_

Steve tried not to stare creepily at Bucky as he studied him out of the corner of his eye. Why the hell would Bucky be jealous? _Surely it couldn't be because..._

Steve cleared his throat, and folded his hands together, turning all his attention to cheetahs and making a mental note to figure Bucky out later.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4 words: Steve. Is. An. Idiot. 
> 
> ajfdj;jfjdks;fjdkf;dajkf;sdfjdkssl;b;hsd;sjf;;afjksdl;fjksdal;fjds;fjdskf;djsfksdjf;sjfk;sdjka;bjkf;afje;ojiotjweai!!!!!!!!!!  
> They're so stupid! WHY DID I WRITE THEM THIS WAY I'M ONLY TORTURING MYSELF!!????!!!!?!?!?!!!!!!???!?!?


	12. Bucky

Pissing in the night was the one thing that Bucky really hated. Steve's house was rather old, so of course, it had those annoying creaky places where Bucky just had to step on every single time he walked in the hallway.

Bucky opened his door slowly, trying not to open it so wide that it squeaked. He crept out into the hall and immediately stepped on a creaky spot on the floor. He froze, holding his breath as he listened for Steve. Nothing.

Bucky let out his breath and continued his slow walk to the bathroom. He sighed as he emptied himself. He really had to go for a long time, before he went to bed even, but he was too lazy to do anything but watch that Disney movie with Steve, Mulan, then stumble upstairs and collapse in his bed.

He didn't flush, not wanting to risk waking Steve. Besides, it was technically his bathroom, no one else used it and he could always flush in the morning.

On his way back, as he was passing by Steve's room, he heard the softest of whimpers. Bucky paused, listening.

Another whimper. He frowned. Was Steve having a nightmare?

Another one quickly followed, louder and it turned into a quiet "No..."

Bucky rested his hand on the doorknob, mentally debating whether or whether not to go in.

What? No. This is stupid. Steve's an alpha. He can take care of himself.

Just as Bucky turned away, Steve's bedroom exploded into a chorus of "No!"s and "Don't touch her!"s. Steve was shouting. Bucky opened the door and walked swiftly into the room, getting hit with the scent of distressed and enraged alpha. He was thrashing on the bed, nearly growling. 

"I said don't touch her!" he roared, his fists swinging widely.

"Steve!" Bucky shouted, rushing over to him. He was almost foaming at the mouth, his punches narrowly missing Bucky's face. "Steve, wake up! It's just a nightmare!"

Bucky managed to grab one of Steve's arms with his metal arm. He squeezed it, trying to wake up Steve. "Hey, it's okay. You're here, you're alright," Bucky said while trying to wrestle Steve's other hand.

Suddenly, Steve's eyes snapped open, scaring Bucky. He yelped and jerked backward. The alpha's eyes were so full of rage and fear at the same time. Bucky lost his balance, teetered off the side of Steve's bed, and fell on his butt on Steve's floor, staring up at the alpha.

"Bucky?" Steve croaked out, his voice hoarse from yelling at the top of his lungs. He leaned over the bed, peering at him through the darkness. "Are you alright?"

"Er, yeah, I'm fine," Bucky said, standing up. He snapped on the light, blinking in the sudden brightness.

Steve looked wrecked. His hair was messed up and he was sweating buckets, drenching the thin white tank top he wore. His face trembled, and Bucky wondered if he was going to cry.

Bucky slowly sat down on the bed next to Steve, close enough to provide comfort but far enough away so that they weren't touching.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Bucky asked after a moment.

Steve shut his eyes and buried his face in his hands. He stayed like that, frozen, for a minute and 11 seconds. Bucky counted.

"I was born in Brooklyn," Steve mumbled through his hands. Bucky leaned close so he could hear better. "My parents were forced to be mated by their parents. They didn't love each other at all. My dad was a traditional alpha, he didn't want my mom to work at all and to just stay home and raise his pups. My mom, on the other hand, was a liberal omega. She didn't really want kids, she just wanted to be a nurse. They didn't get along to begin with, but things really started to fall apart when my mom found out that it was very hard for her to have pups. They had to have an in virto fertilization procedure just to have me. My mom told me that I was the only pup they could ever have because it was so expensive.

"My dad used to beat my mom. I remember coming home from kindergarten one day to find her in the middle of the kitchen, her body bruised and broken, with my father standing over her, a broken chair leg raised in his hands. I ran to my room and cried for what seemed like forever. After that, the drinking started. My dad lost all of the jobs he'd tried to keep, and we had to move to a tiny apartment with one bedroom. My mom and I slept on the floor of the living room. My mom had always told me that I was going to present as an alpha one day and that I must take care of my mate and pups, not at all like my dad was doing. I tried to stand up to him once when I was 10, but he called me names and knocked me unconscious.

"2 years later, I woke up to my mom screaming. When I ran into my father's room, I found her standing over his bed, staring down at his dead body. He had come home late, out drinking with his buddies, then took some pills that ended his life. My mom started working 4 jobs and we moved again, out of Brooklyn, and here to D.C. Things started to get better from there. I got into high school, where I could pretend like my life was normal and all. I got into college and got a girlfriend. But then my mom died from a heart attack one night. The doctors never knew how or why; she wasn't that old and she was relatively healthy. Omega's don't deserve to be treated that way, they deserve to be treated like they're special and better than any of us. Because they freakin' are."

Steve finished off his long speech by looking up from his hands, straight into Bucky's eyes. Bucky swallowed hard. He felt like Steve was expecting him to say something.

"The earliest memory I have is me waking up, strapped to a cold bench, in a dark, cement room," Bucky began. He didn't want to tell Steve any of this, but since Steve had basically just poured his soul out to him, he felt it only fair to tell Steve.

"I couldn't remember who I was, why I was there, or where I was. An alpha came in the room and immediately...immediately started t-to rape me. He told me that I was an omega, only useful as a womb for pups. Even though I knew nothing, my instincts told me that that wasn't right. I soon found out that they were a secret underground omega breeding facility called Hydra and that I was their newest victim. They had given me a metal arm, saying that I was dying and they saved me. For 4 years, they forced me to give birth to 4 pups, all of which they took away from me as soon as they were born. I'd never gotten to hold my pups or to see them. Hell, I didn't even get to see the stupid ultrasound.

"When they forced me to have my 5th pup, I miscarried. Biggest mistake a breeder could ever make. I knew exactly what they were going to do with me. A year before, there was an omega whose pup had died in her stomach when she was 6 months along. They beat her until she died and then they threw her out like she was trash. I knew that that was going to happen to me. The guards beat me with wooden clubs, even continuing after the clubs broke. Then Brock Rumlow, who's in charge of the omegas, knocked me unconscious. He thought I was dead. Hell, I thought I was dead. And then I woke up in your guest bedroom, and well, you know what comes next."

Bucky didn't realize he was crying until a large tear splashed down on his hands, folded tightly together in his lap.

"Th-they freakin' bred you?!"

Bucky snapped his head up, startled at Steve's reaction. "Y-yeah," he stammered out. Steve jumped up, anger coming off of him in waves.

"That's not right," he snarled. "There's no way in heaven or hell a human could do that to an omega, to you!"

He started pacing, mumbling something about how they were evil and deserved to die, etc., etc., but Bucky wasn't really paying attention. He was staring at Steve, his mouth slightly open. He was the first alpha he met who had reacted this way, almost wanting to...protect him. Well actually, he was the first alpha that Bucky had met outside of Hydra, period, but whatever.

"Hydra was the name of the breeders, you said?" Steve asked, turning to Bucky. Bucky nodded, swallowing hard. He felt another tear fall. Steve quickly sat down next to Bucky, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Bucky let him. It felt nice.

"Hey, it's okay," Steve soothed. Bucky found himself leaning up against Steve, breathing in his scent, trusting an alpha. Bucky shut his eyes and allowed himself to cry.

Steve just sat there, with his arm around Bucky, letting the omega turn his shirt into his tissue. It felt really good, to just let everything go. Bucky didn't know how long he and Steve sat there, but they remained cuddled close together long after Bucky had finished crying.

"You okay?" Steve asked softly when Bucky lifted his head. Bucky nodded, pushing his hair out of his face. Steve' hand started to rub up and down his back and Bucky let it, wanting the comfort. Bucky stood up after a minute, swallowing hard.

"Bucky."

He glanced up, staring into Steve's kind, baby blue eyes.

"Can we be friends?"

The question caused Bucky to pause for a second, his mind whirling. "...Yes," he finally said.

Steve looked like a puppy who had just been given a bone for Christmas. He smiled, his eyes crinkling up at the edges. Bucky returned it, really meaning it.

"Will you be alright?" Steve asked, "Sleeping tonight?"

"Will you?" Bucky said, chuckling a little bit.

"I'm a big, strong alpha. It was just a nightmare."

"You know that nightmare that I had, about a month ago?"

Steve nodded.

"It was about Hydra. Just snippets of my memories combined with my imagination. I'm sorry that I shut you out. I was stupid and I didn't trust you back then. But now I do. You're not bad like the other alphas, like Hydra."

"Well, that's always good to hear."

"Good night, Steve."

"Night. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

Bucky smiled once more at the alpha, then left his room, shutting the door softly behind him. He paused in the hallway, pressing his ear up to Steve's door. He could hear him muttering "Hydra" and "Brock Rumlow" to himself as he moved around his room.

When Bucky made it back to his own bed, he fell asleep as soon as his head his the pillow, pretending that Steve's arms were wrapped around him once more. He didn't have any nightmares that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .............Ta-da!  
>  This is me being nice and finally MOVING THE STORY ALONG. What will Steve do after hearing Bucky's story? What will happen the next morning? What happens to Hydra? Dun dun dun...tbc. Idk it's 10 pm and I'm eating peanut butter cookies and getting a sugar high, guys.


	13. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter!

Steve knew he shouldn't be doing this. Bucky had specifically asked him not to dig deeper into Hydra, yet here Steve was, looking up the 5 letters on the internet. The only things that came up were about the dragon. Steve typed in 'breeders' after Hydra and hit enter. Only two results came up. The first one was from the personal website of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Steve clicked on the website and frowned. The only way he could get into the website was by entering the secret code (which he didn't have).

He went back to the result page and clicked on the other link, which was the website of the Washington Post. It was a newspaper article from October 14th, 1945. Steve's eyes skimmed over the article, reading quickly.

The article was talking about how S.H.I.E.L.D., a government agency protecting people of all statuses, took over Hydra based off of information given to them from an ex-Hydra breeder.

Steve didn't read all of it, just the first paragraph, then scrolled down to the bottom, where there was a picture of the old Hydra factory. Steve leaned in close, frowning. He recognized it.

When he was little, back in Brooklyn, there was an old factory by his apartment. The young boys would always dare one another to go near the factory, to crawl in a hole in the chain link fence. Steve was dared once. He remembered staring at the hole, wondering if it was worth it. As he stared up at the dark building, he saw a creepy figure in one of the windows. He ran back to the other boys, who laughed at him and called him names.

Now that he thought about it, Steve had never really paid attention to the factory's history, it was just...a factory. Steve drew back from the screen, staring at the picture of Hydra's hiding place.

 _That's really creepy_ , he thought. _I grew up near an old breeding facility and I didn't even know it._

And it was Hydra. Hydra, which had forced Bucky to be a breeder, which had hurt him, beat him until he was unconscious. Apparently, Hydra had been destroyed by S.H.I.E.L.D., but obviously, that wasn't the case. Someone must've heard about Hydra and decided to restart it, or maybe a Hydra agent had survived.

Whatever the case, Steve wasn't going to sit back and keep letting Hydra hurt omegas, not when he had such valuable information.

He stood up quickly, and grabbed his phone, punching in numbers on the phone app.

It rang 3 times before they picked up.

"Natasha?" Steve said. "I need you to do me a favor."

***

S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters was an impressive building, white and tall, built near a huge lake. The security was extremely high-tech, and even though the metal detector didn't beep, the guards still patted Steve down and made him walk through another detector, which they didn't tell him what it was for.

He glanced down at the piece of paper in his hand that held the information he had filled out online for a meeting with the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., some dude named Nicholas Fury.

He was walking absent mindlessly over to the help station, not looking where he was going, so of course, he was going to bump into someone. He jerked his head up, surprised to see familiar brown eyes.

"Sharon?"

Sharon raised an eyebrow at him. "Steve? What are you doing here?" she asked, sounding suspicious.

"Um... What are you doing here?"

"I work here."

"You're a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?"

Steve had honestly never known what Sharon did for a living. He had always assumed that she was a nurse, because she just seemed so much like one. Sharon shifted her weight, awkwardly glancing down at the floor.

"Yes, yes I am," she said.

"Sir, can I help you?"

Steve whirled around, thankful that the guy at the help station had decided to interrupt just at that moment.

"Um, yes," he said, walking over. "I have a meeting with the director."

He handed the man the papers. His eyes skimmed over them, then he nodded and handed them back to Steve.

"Agent 13 can lead you to the director," he said, gesturing to Sharon. She nodded and whirled around, beginning to stalk off. Steve hurried after her, catching up.

"So...you never told me that you were a super secret agent," he said, trying to make their walk less awkward.

"It never came up and I never felt the need to talk about it," she replied shortly, taking a sharp left down a hallway. Steve followed her. They came to an elevator, where Sharon punched in a code that she didn't let Steve see by covering up the number pad with her other hand. He walked into the elevator with her as she pushed the button for the 40th floor.

The ride was silent, both of them not wanting to talk first.

Once they reached the correct floor, Sharon led them down a series of turns that Steve stopped trying to memorize after the 3rd left and the 7th right. Eventually, she led him to a pair of large doors.

"Director Fury's office," she said, gesturing to them.

"His name is literally Fury?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow. Sharon's lips twitched up in a smile.

"I'll just be outside," she said.

Steve opened the doors, slightly surprised to find them unlocked. Fury's office was large and had complicated technology everywhere, including a giant hologram computer on one of the walls.

Fury himself was sitting at his desk, reading something. He glanced up as Steve approached.

He was dressed in all black, his head bald and his skin like milk chocolate. He had an eye patch over one eye, making him look like some sort of leather-clad pirate.

"Have a seat," he said. Steve did, sitting opposite him.

Fury leaned forward, folding his hands on the desk and raising an eyebrow at him.

"What's this all about?" he questioned. 

Steve frowned. "I thought I told the guy on the phone already." 

"Yes, I heard it from him, but now I want to hear it from you." 

"A month ago, a found an omega on the side of the street," he began. "He was clearly raped. It took some time for him to adjust, he when he did, he told me that he was a breeder for Hydra."

"That's not possible," Fury said, narrowing his eye. "We destroyed Hydra back in '59. Every single one of them. No one survived, not even the omegas because the Hydra agents murdered their breeders before we could get there. The only remnant of Hydra there was is the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Alexander Pierce, whose mother was an omega named Mary Kane, a breeder for Hydra. But Pierce disappeared in 2011. We don't know what happened to him or why."

"He also said that there was an alpha named Brock Rumlow is in charge of the omegas, if that's of any importance to you," Steve said.

Fury drew back in his chair. He was silent for a moment, and Steve had a feeling that he hit something very important.

"Rumlow was Pierce's younger half-brother. When Pierce took over S.H.I.E.L.D., he established the S.T.R.I.K.E. Team, with Rumlow leading them. The entire S.T.R.I.K.E. Team disappeared along with Pierce. As far as we're concerned, he's dead. I'm pretty sure you've got yourself a broken omega there, Mr. Rogers, one who's hallucinating and making the entire story up, or else he got kidnapped by a small group of Hydra wannabes and one alpha stole his name from us," the director replied, shaking his head. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. We can investigate if that makes you feel any better, but really, we have no leads here."

"The omega said that his kidnappers are a large, underground breeding facility with extreme security and about one hundred omegas and I'm 100% certain he's not lying or hallucinating or whatever," Steve said, clenching his jaw. Why couldn't Fury just believe him?

"Tell me this, son, if this Hydra is so huge, then how did your omega get out?"

"Um.. he's not really my omega and he said that he miscarried so they beat him up and they thought that they murdered him, so they threw him out."

Fury sighed, obviously not impressed with Steve's answer.

"There is literally nothing I can do about it. We have no leads besides the name you've given us of someone who's already dead and the only source you have is a broken omega. Thank you for wasting my time, Mr. Rogers, Agent 13 will see you out the door."

On cue, the door of Fury's office swung open, revealing Sharon standing there. Steve realized that she had been listening in on their entire conversation.

***

Steve's phone was ringing. He glanced at the caller ID and, seeing that it was Natasha, picked it up.

"Hey," she said as soon as he answered. "I managed to hack into the S.H.I.E.L.D. website and you'll never believe what I've found."

"What is it?" Steve asked, tired. He had honestly expected more out of a government agency than just 'you haven't given us enough information so we're just going to forget about it.' Steve had just told the director that freakin' Hydra was still active today, and he wasn't even concerned in the least.

"Hydra was shut down by S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1959. S.H.I.E.L.D. had received information from an omega named Mary Kane and they were able to find Hydra and destroy it. None of the omegas except Kane survived, however. Hydra suffocated them to death before S.H.I.E.L.D. could break in. The attack was led by a man named Christopher Pierce, who later took Kane as his mate. In '61, she gave birth to a pup but died soon after childbirth. No one knew quite why; no one was at the birth besides the parents and friends said that Kane was healthy physically and mentally.

"Pierce named the pup Alexander Robert Pierce and raised him by himself. In '67, after the former director died of cancer, Pierce took over S.H.I.E.L.D. He proved himself to be ruthless and selfish. S.H.I.E.L.D. took a dark turn and secretly started to work with criminals instead of against them. In '88, Pierce raped an omega named Linda Rumlow. Thanks to basic omega rights, Pierce was kicked out of S.H.I.E.L.D. A year later, his son, Alexander Pierce, became the youngest director ever, just at the age of 28.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. was a million times better under the new Pierce. He healed all the damage done and arrested all the people who were supporting his father. Hell, it was even called the 'Golden Age.' It ended in 2009, when Pierce created the S.T.R.I.K.E. Team and placed his brother in charge of them. Brock Rumlow was just like his father, cold and cunning. Rumlow kept those who opposed Pierce 'in check,' as Pierce himself put it. 2 years later, Pierce and the S.T.R.I.K.E. Team went away on a mission and were never seen since. Nick Fury, Pierce's closest friend, became the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and has been ever since."

Steve exhaled slowly after Natasha's long speech.

"Yeah, that's basically what Fury told me."

"Wait, you actually talked to him? What did he do?" Natasha sounded excited.

"Nothing," he hissed out. "He didn't even believe me."

"Mmm. You know what I think? I think Rumlow grew up on stories of Hydra and decided to start it up again. I bet he lured Pierce away and killed him with the help of his S.T.R.I.K.E. Team, who's also Hydra."

Steve nodded, coming to a stop at a red light. "Natasha," he said slowly. "I know that this is asking a lot, but I found out that the old Hydra factory is close by where I grew up in Brooklyn...you interested?"

"Hell yes!" she exclaimed, sounding excited. "Are you kidding me? We're breaking into an old breeding facility to see if there's anything that will point us to its new version. Of course I'm in!"

Steve smirked. "Great," he said. "Just warning you, we're breaking the law here."

"I hacked into a government agency's government. I kinda just already broke the law. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

After saying goodbye, Steve hung up the phone and accelerated as the light turned green. Suddenly, he remembered Bucky.

_Crap. What the hell am I going to tell him when he asks where I'm going?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's just pretend that a normal person can get a meeting with Nick Fury for the sake of the plot, okay?
> 
> By the way, Natasha was trained from the age of 10 by Russia in hacking and fighting to be a 'weapon' against their enemies, but then she fought against Russia and escaped to the U.S. She changed her name and started a new life. Steve is the only one she fully trusts, and he is the only one who knows her story. Because that totally happens in real life.


	14. Natasha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Natasha go poke around in the Hydra factory.......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop! An update!!!  
> *Throws confetti everywhere*

3 hours and 40 minutes. That's how long Natasha had to spend in a car with Steve. For a full hour, all that played in Steve's tiny Volkswagen Beetle was the 40's station, until Natasha switched it over to KISS 108.

"What? Hey! That was Frank Sinatra!" Steve whined as she did.

"Mmm-hmm. And this is Imagine Dragons," Natasha replied, turning up the volume. "C'mon Fossil, it's not the 1940s anymore."

Steve huffed and stared straight ahead, but after a while, he started to hum quietly and tap his fingers on the steering wheel along to the beat of Thunder.

Natasha smiled victoriously and leaned back in her seat.

"I knew you'd like it," she said. Steve shot her a pretend glare.

Natasha had agreed almost instantly when Steve had asked her to come along with him to investigate the old Hydra factory. She loved adventure, and after her days as a spy for Russia, life had just seemed boring. Not that she'd wanted to go back working for the U.S.S.R., not at all. She just hated having nothing to do.

Natasha felt bad for the omega, Bucky. She had never met him, but while they were driving to Brooklyn, Steve had certainly told her a lot about him. Apparently, Bucky didn't even want Steve to go and it had taken about 1 hour of talking, 15 minutes of shouting and half an hour of sulking in his room for Steve to finally convince Bucky that this was for his own good and to let him go.

Honestly, if Natasha were Steve, she would have just gone anyway with or without the omega's permission.

Steve drove them around Brooklyn for a while, telling Natasha stories about when he was a pup.

"That was my old apartment building," he said, coming to a stop in front of a brick building that was falling apart. Natasha peered up at it. It was super tall, maybe 10 or so stories, and it was blocking out the setting sun.

"Apartment 602," Steve muttered, staring at the old building. Natasha let him get lost in memories for a moment, then cleared her throat. She knew that he had a tough childhood, with such a terrible alpha father, but she didn't want him to relive it any more than he needed to.

Steve shook his head and continued driving. "Sorry," he muttered.

They fell into a comfortable silence, just listening to the music. Natasha had known Steve for a little bit now, ever since he had opened up his gym. She had been one of his first customers, although she didn't go there much now. They had clicked off right at the beginning.

Natasha didn't make friends easily. Maybe it was because of her days as a Russian spy, maybe it was just her untrusting personality. But when she did let someone become her friend, their bond was strong and unbreakable, no matter what.

Even if the friend wanted to break into an old breeding facility illegally.

"We're getting close," the alpha said after a while, taking a turn down a dark street. A lot of the street lights were out and one was flickering, making it look like a horror movie.

"This was one of the worst neighborhoods," Steve explained. "All the bullies and gangs lived here."

Natasha stared at the houses through the darkness. Most of them were boarded up and had sold signs on their front lawns.

"It looks like they're planning on being knocked down," she said. Steve nodded absentmindedly.

They drove down the long road for about 5 minutes before reaching the end, where the factory stood, dark and tall.

It was pushed back far from the road, surrounded by tall, barbed wire and made out of red brick. Steve slowed to a stop and shut off the engine. They got out, Natasha shivering in the cold February air.

"They must've replaced the chain link fence with barbed wire after I left," Steve commented. "Probably because of all the boys and their dares to go into the building."

Natasha nodded, her hands absently playing with her jacket. It looked like a prison.

Steve grabbed his duffle bag from the backseat and walked around the car to stand by her.

From the edge of the road to the gate in the fence, there was a long dirt path framed by patches of dirty snow and brown grass.

"Back in the 1950s, this place must've been sad and creepy. Hell, it's still creepy now," Natasha murmured as they walked up the path. When they reached the gate, Steve placed his duffle bag in the dirt and unzipped it, pulling out a pair of bolt cutters. Natasha glanced around them, making sure that no one was watching them. The street was quiet and deserted. Steve cut open the large padlock that kept the gate closed and swung it open.

"Ladies first," he said, smirking as he gestured for Natasha to go ahead.

"Thank you, kind gentleman," she said in a high, fake voice. She walked up to the door of the factory, Steve following close behind.

"Flashlight," she hissed and he took out a bright flashlight from the bag, shining it at the door. There were just 3 simple locks. Easy enough. Natasha slipped her lock picks from her jacket pocket and managed to get all of the locks open.

Before she opened the door, she grabbed a flashlight like Steve's and switched it on. They both grabbed their guns and slid them into the backs of their jeans. They weren't expecting to find anyone in a factory that had been shut down for more than 70 years, but they weren't taking any chances.

"Okay," Natasha said quietly. "I'm ready."

Steve pushed on the door. It swung open and heavily hit the wall. They stepped into the factory and swung their flashlight beams around. They were in a long corridor with lots of doors on either side. Natasha aimed her flashlight up and saw that there was another level that opened below. Most of the railing that protected people from falling down to the first floor had broken off. On the second floor, there was what looked like to prison cells, running along the walls.

Natasha's eyes grew wide. "That must be where they kept the omegas," she whispered, pointing up. Steve, who was over by the left-hand side doors, followed her finger and nodded.

"Come look at this," he said to her. She walked over. He was pointing at a sign near the door. It was in German.

"File Room," she translated out loud. She tried the door handle.

"Locked," she muttered, then quickly picked the lock and pushed the door open.

It was a small room that smelled like old paper and smoke when they walked in. The walls were covered with rows of file cabinets, reaching up to the low ceiling. Natasha pulled on the one nearest to her. It opened easily.

It was full of files, each marked with a last name.

"Abbott," she read aloud, pulling the first file out. She opened it.

"Hey, Steve. Look what I found."

He peered over her shoulder, shining his flashlight down so they could read it.

"Henry Richard Abbott, born May 2nd, 1940 to James Alvin Abbott and Shirley Helen Campbell-Abbott, collected on November 11th, 1956. Height is 5 feet, 6 inches, weight is 98 pounds. Cell E-42," Steve read. Thankfully, it was in English.

Stapled to the file was a picture of a male omega in black and white, staring at the camera with wide, terrified eyes.

"Pups: 2," Natasha kept reading. "Matthew Paul, born on October 16th, 1957. Janet Mary, born on August 30th, 1958."

"It's his information," Steve muttered. Natasha closed the file and put it back in its place, feeling a little sick.

"C'mon," Steve said gently, taking her by the elbow and pulling her out of the file room. He shut the door behind them.

They wandered around the hallway for a bit, just staring around at the expanse of the factory.

"This must've been a huge program," Natasha said.

"Hey, check this out," Steve said, wandering over to one of the doors. Natasha followed, curious. It was just like any of the other doors, but it had writing engraved in the metal that spelled out a word in English.

"Schmidt," Steve said, running his fingers over the letters. He pushed on the door, and, to their surprise, it swung open.

"Why wasn't it locked?" Natasha wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Steve muttered.

They walked in the room, shining their flashlights around it. The room was circular, with a desk right in the middle. Behind the desk was a huge map of the entire world, curved to fit the shape of the room. On the sides that didn't have the map or the door were lined with built-in bookshelves that curved perfectly as the wall did.

Natasha and Steve walked around the desk until they were standing up close to the map.

"What's here?" Steve asked, tapping his finger on a red thumbtack pushed into where Washington D.C. was on the map.

"I don't know..." Natasha replied, her eyes skimming the rest of the map. It was the only thumbtack on it.

She turned around and began to open the drawers of the desk, ruffling through them. In the first drawer, she found a pistol, a Luger P08. She picked it up and ran her fingers gently over it.

"This is the type of gun the Nazis used," she informed Steve wrapping her finger around the trigger. She could feel Steve tense beside her, and Natasha decided that it was best to put the gun down.

"I wonder why it's here," she said, placing the gun back in its original spot.

"Maybe whoever was here was a Nazi?" Steve suggested, and Natasha shrugged.

"I don't know." She grabbed the papers that were underneath the gun and held her flashlight up so she could read them.

They were alien registration forms for Johann Schmidt. Natasha's eyes skimmed the paper, reading quickly and picking out the important details.

"He was born in Germany," she told Steve. "And had only been living in the U.S. for 2 years."

"I guess this is his office," Steve said, glancing around the room. Natasha nodded.

"That kind of explains the gun," she said. "But not why S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't take it when they invaded Hydra."

"Maybe they didn't see it?" Steve suggested.

"Maybe," Natasha said. She put the papers back in the drawer and shut it, then opened the next one. The only thing in it was a tiny slip of paper. When Natasha picked it up, she felt like it was going to fall apart in her fingers.

The only thing on it was writing in German.

"What does that say?" Steve asked her.

"They're coordinates," Natasha said. "38.9023 degrees north, 76.9326 degrees west. And then one word- strand." She frowned, rereading the words to see if she translated them right.

"Hang on, that's near D.C.," Steve said suddenly. Natasha glanced up at him.

"It is?"

"Yeah, 'cause D.C. is 38 degrees north and like 77 degrees west."

Natasha took out her phone and snapped a picture of the piece of paper.

"Can we go now?" she asked. "This place is fucking creepy."

***

Natasha got back to her house at 11 pm. She immediately went on her computer and typed in the coordinates from the picture on her phone. A google map image of Deanwood popped up.

Deanwood was a neighborhood in D.C., only about 25 minutes away from where Natasha lived. She opened a new tab and typed in 'Stand Deanwood Washington D.C.'

The first result that popped up was a Wikipedia page about the Strand Theatre. She clicked on it and read the page quickly. Apparently, the Strand Theatre was an abandoned movie theatre opened in 1928 that was supposed to be redeveloped in 2010, but never was for some reason. Natasha frowned and grabbed her phone, calling Steve.

 _Why the hell would an omega breeding facility have coordinates pointing to a now abandoned movie theater?_ she wondered as she listened to the phone ringing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dun.......................
> 
> BTW, all of Steve and Natasha's friends as well as themselves have gun permits.


	15. Steve

"How was your little adventure?" Bucky asked bitterly once Steve got back.

"It went fine," Steve said, throwing the keys to his car on the kitchen counter, trying not to sigh out loud. Bucky was so opposed to this; he couldn't see that it was really for his own good.

"We might have gotten some lead," he explained, turning around to face Bucky. The omega was curled up on the couch, watching some movie.

"Oh yeah? And you're gonna tell S.H.I.E.L.D., right?" Bucky asked.

Steve paused. "...No...?"

"And why the hell not?" Bucky asked, frowning.

"Okay, first of all, we broke into an abandoned building, that's against the law, and second of all, even if I did tell them, they wouldn't care. They think that we're lying and that you weren't kidnapped by Hydra."

"You're just a normal person, Steve! S.H.I.E.L.D. is accustomed to taking care of things like this. Even if you do somehow manage to find Hydra, what are you gonna do?"

Steve glanced down at his hands. He honestly hadn't thought of that. He was really just taking it one step at a time. He didn't even know what he was going to do next. An awkward silence fell over them. Bucky unpaused the movie and continued watching it, ignoring Steve.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," he admitted after a while. "But all I know is that they hurt you and a bunch of other omegas and that they need to be stopped. And if I'm the only one who'll do it, then fine."

He stood up quickly and walked upstairs to his room, leaving Bucky behind.

He shut the door to his bedroom probably a little too hard and ran a hand through his hair, annoyed.

 _Why can't Bucky just accept my help?_ Steve thought, getting more pissed off by the second. _Why can't he just trust me that I can handle something like this? I'm not a little pup anymore._

Steve's cell phone rang, making him jump. He fished it out of his pocket. It was Natasha.

"Hey, Nat," he said when he picked up.

"Guess what I found?" Natasha said, sounding excited.

"What?"

"Those coordinates? They lead to an old movie theatre in Deanwood."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's been abandoned since the 40s. It was supposed to be redeveloped in 2010, but nothing happened to it."

"Why would Hydra be interested in it?"

"I don't know."

"Unless..." Steve's heart rate accelerated. "Nat, could Hydra have stopped that place from being redeveloped?"

"Um...Steve, Hydra was ended in 1959."

"Was it, though?"

"Wait, you don't mean..."

"Yeah, I do. I bet Rumlow heard about that place and thought that it was perfect, so he stopped the redevelopment and killed off Pierce and took his team to go hide out there."

"So basically what you're saying is that you believe that Rumlow is leading Hydra from the Strand Theater?"

"If that's that name of the old movie theatre in Deanwood, then yes."

Natasha was silent for a moment. Steve guessed that she was thinking things through.

"That um...that actually makes sense."

Steve nodded. He started pacing around his bedroom, getting excited. "We could go to the theater and see if Hydra really is there."

"By ourselves?"

"Uh, yeah, no way," Steve said, chuckling a little. "We may be able to break into an abandoned building by ourselves, but there's no way we're breaking into Hydra. Wait, what about Tony?"

"What about him?"

"He could help us, idiot."

"Jesus, Steve. That's perfect. He could make some sciency crap. And Thor, Sam, Victor, Scott, Clint, Rhodey and T'Challa could all come along if they agree to."

Steve stopped pacing and stared at his door, lost in thought for a moment. What the hell was he going to tell Bucky? There's no way that Bucky would let him do this...

"Steve?" Natasha said, startling him from his thoughts.

"Er, yeah, I'm still here. So yeah, if they all agree to put their lives in danger we might be able to at least do something. We might even be able to get S.H.I.E.L.D. to believe us somehow."

"Do you really think that Hydra is at the theater?"

Steve thought carefully about his answer before responding. "I think it's a damn good place as any to start looking."

***

"Okay, so what you're saying is that Hydra, a breeding facility that got shut down in the 1950s still survives today and that they might be stationed in D.C., run by an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent right near S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters?" Scott said, his eyebrows raised.

"Um, yes," Steve said awkwardly. He and Natasha had gathered all of their friends at a small coffee shop. They were sitting in the back, the eleven of them clustered around a small table, talking in hushed voices.

"Oh man, this is so cool. I feel like we're in an action movie or something," Scott said, grinning.

"You do realize we could be putting out lives at stake here just so that you can make sure your omega's safe?" Tony questioned, glaring at Steve, who frowned right back.

"I'm saving the lives of a hundred omegas," Steve hissed, his teeth clenched. When Steve had told his friends his plan, it wasn't difficult to see that Tony didn't like it. Steve wished that the alpha would just go along with it. He needed all the help he could get.

"Yes, good for you. You're like a super alpha, now aren't you?" Tony snapped back. He and Steve then proceeded to have a glaring contest before Thor broke it up by saying, "I'm with Steve here. We'll be helping all of those omegas."

"By killing ourselves," T'Challa put in.

"We wouldn't be killing ourselves," Clint said. He had been quiet for the entire time up until now. "We have more fighting experience than the average person. Nat was a spy for the Soviet Union. Tony, you make those weird, metal glove things that blow up stuff. Thor, you're like, a bodybuilder. T'Challa has that catsuit that was passed down in his family. And Scot's an ex-cat burglar. Breaking into places and stealing stuff is his favorite thing to do.."

T'Challa stiffened. "It's not a catsuit," he spat out. T'Challa ancestor was once the king of Wakanda, an African nation. He was the first Black Panther, a warrior of Wakanda who protected the nation and was like Wakanda's symbol. But for unknown reasons, he and his family were kicked out of Wakanda. They lost their rights to the throne of Wakanda and were forced to live in the U.S. That didn't stop them from passing down the Black Panther, however. It had now come to T'Challa, who owned the black suit. He rarely wore it, however, as he preferred to save it for very special events.

 _Like this one_ , Steve thought.

Clint shrugged. "Sorry, but I don't know about you guys, but a panther's a cat to me," he said.

Tony sighed, rubbing his temples. "I suppose I'll join in," he muttered. "I guess you'll need all the help you can get."

 _So that's Natasha, Scott, Clint, Thor, Tony and me_ , Steve thought, making a mental note of who was with him and who wasn't. That might be enough, but it's always safe to have more.

"Well, there's no way you can convince me," Bruce said, raising his hands up. "There's no way in heaven or hell I'll be doing anything like that."

Steve sighed. He honestly didn't think that Bruce would agree, but some part of him had hoped that he would.

"I'm in," Sam said. "I'm with you, Steve," he said, clapping Steve on the shoulder. Steve smiled and nodded at him.

"Thanks, man," he said.

"I'm goin' with Tony on this one," Rhodey said. "It's dangerous, but you need me. I didn't mean for that to sound like some sort of romantic movie, but it did anyway."

Everyone chuckled lightly, but Steve could tell that they were all tense. He exchanged a glance with Natasha.

_If this actually works...we could all die._

He shivered. He had tried hard not to think of the consequences. There was just so many of them. Death, hospitalization, jail...

The only people left who needed to make their decisions were T'Challa and Victor. Everyone turned towards them, expecting their answer. Victor was the first one to talk.

"I will go and help you take over Hydra," he said confidently. "Well, if Wanda agrees, that is."

Next, to him, T'Challa sighed. "I guess this means that I'll have to go as well."

Steve couldn't help but smile. He had a team. He had wished that Bruce had agreed to go along as well, but he had to respect the beta's decision.

"Cool," Tony said. "When do we start?"

It was quiet, and Steve realized that everybody was staring at him. He blinked, suddenly realizing that he was leading the whole process.

***

Steve had told Bucky what had happened when he got back. The omega had at first gotten mad at Steve and yelled at him, but after Steve told him that they would be ending Hydra once and for all, he seemed to calm down a bit.

Steve had told Bucky all of his friends' stories, how they really were the best people for the job. Bucky had grown quiet, staring down at his hands.

"I just want it to be over," he whispered, so quiet that Steve could barely hear him. "And I want to get my memories back."

His eyes were starting to grow wet and Steve, unsure of what to do, hugged him and muttered words of comfort.

"It'll be alright. We'll do the best we can," he murmured.

"Just...don't die, alright?" Bucky said, glancing up at Steve. Steve nodded.

"I'll try my best," he said, gently rubbing Bucky's back. Bucky let Steve comfort him for a little while, before the omega stood up, wiping his eyes.

"Good night," he muttered, making his way upstairs to his bedroom.

"Night," Steve called after him. 

_Baby steps._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's just all pretend that this totally happens in real life for the sake of the plot, 'kay?


	16. Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Slight Peter/Tony!!! (but don't skip, important chapter)
> 
> Let's pretend that Tony lives in D.C.

Steve gave them 2 weeks to 'prepare' for Hydra.

Tony was as nervous as hell, even though he would never admit it. His 2 weeks were spent making changes to his gauntlet, which Bruce liked to call a 'tin glove.'

He and the beta had created the gauntlet together, and were soon to release it to the public. Well, kind of the public. Really just the other billionaires.

He let Peter help him when Bruce wasn't there, partially because he just wanted the omega next to him, and partially because he could actually use the help. If Tony sat down and thought about it, he would find out that he wasn't into Pepper anymore. Sure, she was nice and amazing, but they just seemed to be apart a lot now. She was always having 'girls' days,' and Tony was always working.

About a week before Tony and his friends would all possibly die, they met up at a shooting range. Natasha and Clint hit the center of the target the most times, but that was only because Nat was an ex-spy and Clint was freakin' amazing at archery.

And on the topic of archery, Bruce was helping Tony make special arrows for Clint, even though he wasn't really in the action. They made arrows that would explode, arrows that would break up into smaller ones, and arrows that could be used as cameras that sent the footage back to Bruce, safe in his lab.

They had decided that Bruce would be their tech man, like the one in the movies that always sat in the van, keeping watch.

As the day drew closer, Tony found himself getting more irritable at every little thing. Like when his favorite show didn't tape, or when he dropped the keys to his car on the floor, or when he was testing out his gauntlet and accidentally blew up a table.

They advised a plan, one which Tony didn't think would actually work, but he had been surprised by Steve before, so he just decided to go along with whatever he was saying.

There was no way in hell Tony was going to tell Pepper, and even if he did, there was no way in hell she'd agree to let him go. He felt really bad, keeping secrets from her, but Tony was pretty sure that she kept a lot more secrets from him than he did from her.

He didn't even tell Peter, who had to be around him all day. The omega had peppered him with questions about what they were fixing up the gauntlet for, but after the first 3 days, gave up and worked along Tony in silence.

Finally, Tony was done with Clint's arrows, his gauntlet, and even some of the guns that he was fixing for the other people that needed just a few minor tweaks.

They decided to meet at 2 a.m., 1 mile away from the Strand Theater. Tony didn't sleep that night, he lay awake, going over the plan that Steve had given him in his head and making up possible endings.

Endings where they destroyed Hydra and got tons of money for it. Endings where they all were murdered and Hydra eventually took over the world. Where it turned out that Hydra wasn't hiding in the Strand Theater and they got no more leads and Hydra continued hurting omegas. Where they got there only to find out that Fury believed Steve after all and S.H.I.E.L.D. ended Hydra for the second time.

At 1 in the morning, Tony dressed silently in all black, careful not to wake Pepper. He didn't leave her a note or anything because he had no clue what to put on the note. He didn't feel like lying to her and it wasn't like he could tell her the truth.

He crept downstairs and ate half of an apple, then threw it away because his stomach was churning too much. In his lab, he filled a black backpack with his guns, gauntlet and a few smoke grenades (which he put carefully in their own pocket).

He took his Tesla Roadster and made it double time to the block they said they were going to meet up. Tony spotted Natasha's car already there, parked suspiciously in front of a closed Italian restaurant.

Tony parked across the street, not wanting it to be too obvious. He checked his watch. It was 1:40.

_20 more minutes..._

Tony leaned back in his seat, letting out a sigh. He set an alarm on his phone for 2 o'clock and shut his eyes, hoping to take a tiny nap.

***

Tony jerked awake as the sound of an alarm filled his car. In the darkness, he fumbled for his phone and turned it on, blinking the sudden brightness. He shut off the alarm on his phone and rubbed his eyes, yawning widely.

He glanced out of the car window. There were now 8 other cars parked on the street, which Tony automatically knew were his friends'.

He waited as Steve stepped out of his tiny Volkswagen Beetle before getting out of his own car. Thor, T'Challa, Clint, Victor, Rhodey, Sam, Natasha, and Scott all followed.

They met up in front of the Italian restaurant, standing in a circle.

"Do you guys have everything?" Steve whispered. Everybody nodded. Tony took his backpack off his shoulder and unzipped it, taking out guns and handing them to their respective owners.

"This looks great, Tony," Scott muttered, checking his pistol's bullets. Tony nodded and passed Clint his arrows in their specially engineered quiver. All the arrows each had their own space and it would rotate so Clint could get at the arrows he needed better.

They quickly geared up, casting quick looks around to see if anybody was watching them.

"You know what we're doing is against the law, right?" Sam said, frowning as he slipped his gun into its holster.

"Well the government has decided not to do anything about it, and we're the only ones who actually believe that Hydra still exists, so if we want them to go down, we're gonna have to do it ourselves," Natasha hissed back, her eyes hard and determined.

"Alright, are we all ready?" Steve asked, glancing around at the group. When they nodded, he stepped away and started walking down the street.

The road was quiet as they followed him, single-file, keeping close to the shadows. Tony's heart was beating quickly.

As they walked, the buildings started to get more and more old and run-down, until they eventually came to a long, white brick building. All the windows were boarded up, and there was a faded sign on the 2nd floor that said 'Strand.' To Tony, it looked sad and lonely, and the perfect place for an omega breeding facility to hide out.

Steve paused a little ways away from the theater, staring up at it.

"Is this the place?" asked Thor, who was right behind him. Steve nodded slowly, then turned around to speak to the group.

"Remember the plan? We're going to start on the 2nd floor. Sam, Tony, Clint, and I will go first, followed by Natasha, Scott, Victor, and T'Challa, then Thor and Rhodey will bring up the rear. Keep your eyes open and your guns at the ready. I have no clue what we're going to find in here, but I'm pretty sure that whatever it is, it won't be good."

He took off, with Tony, Sam, and Clint following him. They walked quickly and quietly around to the side, where the fire escape was. It squeaked suspiciously as they started up it. When they came to the door, Tony found his hand resting on his gun in its holster.

 _Relax_ , he told himself. _There's probably going to be nothing immediately inside._

The door to the fire escape was boarded up, but Sam had brought an electric screwdriver. By some miracle, he had put on the correct head, and in about 2 minutes, the wooden boards were off the door. There was a rather small padlock, but Steve was able to pick the lock using Natasha's tools. He pushed the door open and he, Clint, Sam and Tony walked into the Strand Theater.

The fire escape led to the balcony seats. The stage was on the smaller side, and there weren't as many seats as you would expect, but Tony guessed that the Strand Theater would have once held 200 people.

It was completely pitch-black in the theater, except for where the dim street lights shone in through the emergency exit door and where Steve shone his flashlight. If they weren't supposed to be dead silent, Tony would have yelled at Steve to put the flashlight away, but it was a very dim one and Steve was aiming it at the ground directly in front of him so he wouldn't trip over anything.

Steve led them around to the stairs, where they started down them slowly. Thankfully, none of the steps creaked.

Tony was right behind Steve and behind him was Clint, with Sam bringing up the rear. Tony quietly took his gun out of its holster, his index finger wrapping around the trigger.

Once they stepped off the last step, Steve turned right into the main part of the theater. He shone his flashlight on the stage.

Nobody dared to speak, in fear that there was somebody just outside the room, waiting in the shadows to pounce.

Tony heard creaking above him and looked up, but it was only Natasha's group. Victor, who was holding the flashlight, shined it down on Steve's group, giving them a quick nod before making his way to the stairs.

They crept silently towards large doors opposite the stage, where Tony assumed led out into a hallway of some sort. Tony touched his wristwatch on his right hand and paused for a moment as it activated into his gauntlet. That was one of the things he liked about the gauntlet, it could go completely undetected as a watch.

Steve froze just before the double door, his hand resting on the handle. Tony, Clint, Sam, Natasha, Victor, T'Challa and Scott all stopped behind them. Steve aimed the beam of the flashlight up a little bit so that they could see each other's faces.

Steve nodded, a silent 'Are you all ready?'

Everybody nodded in response, and Steve pushed the handle down and opened the door.

The hallway was light with a soft light coming from a single overhead light, a few feet away to their left. Tony pushed his way next to Steve, who had swung the door more open.

To his right, Tony saw the one thing that he had been expecting to see ever since he stepped a foot in the Strand Theater- a human being.

He was tall and muscular, dressed completely in black, wearing a bulletproof vest. As soon as he saw Steve and Tony's head poking out from the door, he started running towards them, pointing his gun at them.

Tony didn't wast any time. He jumped out in front of Steve and raised his right hand, clenching his fist. The Hydra agent immediately dropped his gun, his hands clapping to his ears. Tony smashed his elbow into the man's face, then kicked him in the gut. The man stumbled to the floor, and Tony grabbed his fallen gun, beating the man's face until he was knocked unconscious.

"What the hell?" Steve hissed so quietly that Tony could barely hear him. The others had rushed over, Natasha kneeling by the man to check his pulse.

"I wasn't going to kill him," Tony whispered back. "A gunshot would've been to loud."

Natasha straightened up and glanced at Tony. "Still alive," she mouthed. Sam came forward and checked the man over, finding a pair of handcuffs. They handcuffed the man's hands behind his back and dragged him by the door, propping him up like he was just sitting there. They heard footsteps and whirled around, but it was only Thor and Rhodey.

"So this is defiantly where Hydra is hiding?" Rhodey hissed once he saw the Hydra agent.

"Unfortunately," Steve replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY updated. Ugh, this chapter was really long and annoying for me to write, but I did it!!!!!
> 
> Things are finally escalating!!! Next chapter is going to be the big fight scene (spoilers)!!


	17. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I'm actually really proud of myself- this is the longest chapter that I've ever written.

They moved down the hallway, silently and on high alert. Steve was in the lead, with Tony, Sam, and Nat right behind him. They all had their guns out, Tony pointing his gauntlet in front of him like a shield. Scott had dressed up in the Hydra agent's clothes and helmet to go in before them and act like one of the guards.

Steve tried to remember the map that he had spent hours pouring over before he made his way to the theatre. If he remembered correctly, there would be a door to the basement coming up on his left...

He stopped suddenly, causing Sam to bump into him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sam hissed in his ear.

Steve reached out to his left, feeling the wall. All of a sudden, his hand dipped into an empty space.

"Bingo," he whispered.

He turned, feeling the door. It had a vault door handle with a coded door lock above it. Steve motioned for Victor to shine the flashlight on the door and he did. Steve gently ran his fingers around the door lock, frowning.

Almost as if reading his mind, Nat took out her black light flashlight and aimed it at the door lock. Steve studied the fingerprints. They were only over the numbers 1, 2, 3, 9, and 0.

He reached up and pressed his earpiece, turning it on.

"Oh! Hello!" Bruce's voice said in his ear. Steve winced slightly at the loud noise.

"Bruce," he whispered. "Can you run some code numbers for us?"

"Sure. What are they?"

"1, 2, 3, 9, and 0," Steve replied, then waited as Bruce typed them into his computer and ran out different combinations.

"Uh...1320, 1032, 1023, 2130...I'm guessing that none of this is helping."

Steve shook his head, then remembered that Bruce couldn't hear him. "No," he whispered.

"Wait," Natasha hissed. "The numbers could have been hit more than once. Try...3122009."

Steve raised an eyebrow at her but punched the numbers in. Nothing.

"2009312?" Nat said, like she was asking a question.

"How do you know that it's going to work?" Steve said quietly. Nat shrugged.

"I don't," she said. "But we should at least try it."

Steve did, and to his surprise, the door handle clicked. Quickly, he grabbed the handle and turned it until they heard to door click open. It swung open slightly, revealing a strip of darkness beyond.

"How the hell did you guess that?" Clint hissed to Natasha.

"It was the day that Pierce and the S.T.R.I.K.E. Team went missing. I thought it was a pretty good shot," she replied, smirking.

"Congratulations," Victor said, turning off his flashlight.

Steve pushed the door open all the way, raising his gun. He pointed his dim flashlight into the darkness, revealing a set of stairs descending down to another door, one that didn't have any visible locks. Steve motioned for everyone to follow him as he walked down the stairs.

"Don't you dare shut the door," he heard Rhodey hiss to Thor, who was the last person.

Steve's hand hovered over the doorknob. He turned back to stare at his friends. Tony, Natasha, Clint, Victor, Scott, T'Challa, Sam, Rhodey, and Thor.

"I just wanted to thank you all for doing this. It really means a lot to me," he whispered to them. Scott and Clint smiled at him, but T'Challa said, "Well, are we going to burn Hydra down or what?"

Steve smiled. "Of course we are," he said. "Do you really think I would've come all this way just to forget about all the people who hurt Bucky?"

Natasha shot him a knowing look as Steve turned back towards the door. The rested his hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly. The door opened to a small balcony with stairs descending on the left that was overlooking a long hallway.

Steve's eyes grew wide as he looked around. There were guards swarming all over the place, all armed. Tons and tons of doors lined the walls, and Steve realized with a sickening feeling in his stomach that they were all cells for the omegas.

As he watched, 3 of the guards walked over to one of the cells and opened it. They disappeared inside for a moment before reappearing, dragging along an omega, kicking and screaming with them. She was wearing a plain white dress that sagged off of her. It was covered this some sort of stains that Steve didn't want to know what they were. Steve wanted to jump down to the group and beat the life out of the alphas. He would have done it, if not for Scott's hand on his shoulder.

Steve moved out of the way to let Scott onto the balcony. He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and readjusting his gun before walking down the stairs. The others crowded around Steve, trying to see what would happen to Scott, yet staying in the shadows.

They watched as he made his way down the hallway, walking quickly yet warily.

"See anything yet?" whispered Tony into the earpiece.

"No," came Scott's hushed reply, into all of their earpieces. "Hang on, there's a door that says 'Operation Room.'"

"Go in it," Natasha hissed. They watched as Scott hesitated in front of the door. A guard came up behind him and pushed the door open, walking into the room. Scott slipped in behind him.

Through their earpieces, they could hear the muffled voice of a Hydra agent. "Who the hell are you? Do you have clearance?"

"Um...I just came to check up on..." Scott replied, awkwardly trailing off. "I got nothing."

Without a second thought, Steve hissed out, "Go, go, go!"

They all burst through the door, jumping down onto the ground below the balcony. All the guards immediately froze and turned towards them, startled. Steve didn't waste any time in squeezing the trigger of his gun. He aimed his shots on the arms and legs of the guards so that the bullets wouldn't be stopped by the bulletproof vests.

"Run!" he heard T'Challa shout and followed the order, spinning around on his heels. As he sprinted down the hallway, pushing guards over and shooting more, he was dimly aware of someone running next to him.

When he reached the end of the hallway, it split off into two directions and he took the left way. He threw a glance over his shoulder and saw that the person following him was Rhodey, and that he had taken the right way.

Steve skidded to a halt as the hallway ended suddenly to a door marked 'Birthing.'

He gritted his teeth and whirled around, only to find his way blocked by a Hydra guard.

Steve's only thought was he hurt Bucky as he charged at the man, knocking him down. But the guard threw a punch that hit him squarely in the jaw. Steve grunted and was momentarily stunned enough for the guard to flip them over so that he was on top. Steve's hands flew up, grabbing onto the man's face and throwing his body off of him. He hit the wall but Steve didn't wait to see if he was knocked out or not; he was up and running.

Steve sprinted back the way he came. There was an alarm blaring and red lights flashing as he ran down the long hallway. There were probably about a dozen or two dozen bodies all around him, unconscious or dead, not as many that would've made him feel like they were winning, but a small enough number that he felt like he was doing a good thing.

Natasha was making her way to him, holding up key cards. "I think these unlock the omega's cells," she said, gesturing to the doors around them. Steve nodded, glancing around at his other friends who were there. Scott, Clint, Tony, T'Chala and Victor. Rhodey, Sam and Thor had all disappeared.

"Alright," Steve said to Natasha. "Open them up."

Natasha handed the key cards out to almost everyone, but not to Clint because there weren't enough. They each moved to separate doors to try and open them. Steve studied his.

Next to the metal handle, there was some sort of sensor with a red light right next to it. He passed the card over the sensor. The door clicked softly and the light turned green. Steve pulled on the handle and the door swung open.

The cell was the tiniest room Steve had ever seen, no bigger than the size of a closet. There was a human being curled up in the corner the farthest away from the door, their back to Steve.

Steve walked over to the omega and gently put his hand on their shoulder. The omega stiffened, just like Bucky had done, about a month and a half ago.

"It's alright," Steve said gently. "My name is Steve. I'm not part of Hydra. I'm here to get you out."

The omega turned around and Steve was met with big, brown eyes, full of tears. His scent was the saddest Steve had ever smelled, like despair and hopelessness. The omega shut his eyes and curled his body up, almost as if he was expecting a hit or something. 

"Hey, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not part of Hydra, I swear." 

The omega looked at Steve again, looking as if he was deciding what to do, before he finally took Steve's outstretched hand. Steve helped him to his feet. The omega winced and clung tightly onto Steve.

Steve helped him out into the hallway, where 2 other omegas were already. One of them, a girl, smiled brightly when she saw the other omega. She walked over and hugged him. Steve stepped away, watching them for a moment, before moving on to help more omegas.

In 10 minutes, they already had about 50 omegas, just standing about, embracing each other. Most of them were crying or had the biggest smiles that Steve had ever seen on their faces.

"Clint," he ordered. "Take them upstairs to the balcony. Tell them to stay there until someone comes and gets them."

Clint nodded and moved to herd the omegas up the rickety stairs, but before he could, gunshots rang out.

Steve whirled around, his blood pulsing as omegas dropped dead around him. He wasted no time in pulling out his gun and firing at the Hydra guard at the other end of the hallway. He turned and ran away from Steve, who made a split-second decision to run after him in pursuit.

"Steve!" Tony screamed after him, but he didn't even slow down.

At the end of the hallway, the guard took a sharp right and Steve followed, nearly crashing into the opposite wall. The Hydra agent led him down a maze of turns, one that made Steve feel like he would get lost in it.

Eventually, Steve lost track of the guard and slowed down, breathing heavily. He was in a dim hallway, most of the lights overhead him were burnt out. There was a door to his left. He turned, inspecting the sign near it.

'Science Lab' it read. Out of curiosity, Steve pushed the door open. It was a small room, with 2 beds with restraints pushed up against the left wall, and a table on the right one. The walls and table were splattered with what looked like dried blood, making Steve's stomach churn. Other than blood, there were a few pictures on the wall above the table. Steve stepped closer to study them.

The first one was a picture of an ultrasound. The others were all pictures of omegas with sad, hopeless expressions on their faces. The last one, however, stuck out to Steve the most. It was a picture of a metal arm, one that Steve would recognize anywhere.

It was Bucky's arm.

"Steve where the hell did you go?" Natasha shouted into his earpiece, making him jump.

"Um...well, I followed the Hydra-"

"Get your ass back here now," she interrupted him.

Steve sighed and exited the room, making his way back and surprising himself when he only got lost once.

By the time he reached the others, they had already pushed all the bodies out of the way, freed the remaining omegas and took them out to safety.

"We're going to split up into groups," Tony explained. "Rhodey, Thor and Sam have found the main control room and are waiting to attack once they have more people. Steve, Natasha, and I are going to join them. T'Challa and Scott, you go that way. Victor and Clint, go the other way. Try to capture as many Hydra agents as you can without killing them."

They all nodded and went to their separate groups. Steve joined Tony and Natasha in making their way to the main control room. It was quiet as they walked the maze of hallways. No one felt the need to say anything.

Finally, they came upon Sam, Rhodey, and Thor, all crouched down at a corner.

"Where is the room?" Steve whispered. Sam pointed at the door around the corner.

"On my count," Rhodey hissed out. "1...2...3..."

They all jumped up and charged forward. Thor got there first, ramming into the door and breaking it down. They stumbled into a relatively large room, filled with people and computers.

Steve swung his fist into the face of the nearest guy, knocking him out. The next one proved to be more difficult. He slammed his elbow into Steve's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Steve stumbled backward, gasping for breath. The Hydra agent swept his leg out, knocking Steve's legs from out under him. He crashed to the floor and blocked the punch that was aimed for his head.

His fingers found his gun, lying next to him, and he shot the guard in his leg. He shouted out in pain, his hands flying down to his thigh. Steve pushed him over and jumped up, looking around the room.

There was a man who was fighting Sam, who looked like he was winning. Steve grabbed the man's arm just as he had raised his hand, holding a knife, and was about to bring it down on Sam's head. Natasha, who had just killed a man next to them, grabbed his other arm and forced him down on his knees.

Sam picked up the man's gun, which had fallen onto the floor, and pointed it at his head.

As Steve studied the man's face, he found himself recognizing him, but it was Natasha who beat him to saying his name.

"Alexander Pierce?" she gasped in disbelief.

The Hydra agent glared at her, his jaw clenching.

"Um...as in former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Alexander Pierce?" Sam echoed.

"So pleased to meet you, but I don't even know your name," Pierce snapped, struggling against Steve and Natasha, but they kept a strong grip on him.

***

They tied Pierce's hands behind his back and led him, like an animal, back to the hallway, along with 4 other Hydra agents who'd managed to stay alive and awake.

"Whoa! Who the hell is that?" Scott asked them when he saw them again. He and T'Challa had searched where Tony had told them to, but found only dead ends, so had come back to the main hallway with all the omega cells.

They sat Pierce down in the middle of the hallway and started questioning him.

"Why the hell aren't you dead?" Tony asked, the most obvious question.

Pierce glanced up at him, smiling smugly. "Is it really your place to be asking that?" he said.

Natasha slapped him on the face, hard.

Pierce shook his head. "Jesus, for a such a pretty girl, you have such big anger issues." 

"Answer the question," Natasha managed to get out.

Pierce rolled his eyes but answered it anyway. "Simple. I faked my death. Mine, my little brother's, and all of our faithful followers."

"And then you came here, to start Hydra up again," Steve finished. Pierce raised an eyebrow at Steve.

"This is not just a continuation of Hydra, this is Hydra, remade. More hidden, more efficient, and of course, more monopoly. "

Steve and Tony exchanged glances. Pierce smirked.

"One day, Hydra will take down S.H.I.E.L.D. No more annoying omega rights activists; things will be as there are supposed to be, omegas serving alphas and betas and wombs and pleasure services."

"That's disgusting," hissed out Steve.

Pierce glanced at him. "And who are you to say what is and what isn't? It's not your job."

"Like it's yours?" T'Challa challenged. Pierce and T'Challa stared at each other for a long time, glaring. T'Challa calmly took out his gun and held it to Pierce's forehead.

"One wrong move and it's over," he warned.

Pierce shrugged and leaned back in his seat. "Do it," he said. "There are tons of others who will willingly continue this quest for world restoration."

Scott made a face. "That's just creepy."

"Don't tempt me," T'Challa said. "You've captured hundreds of omegas and murdered god knows how many. You've corrupted tons of people into believing that dehumanizing omegas is the answer and brought them down here. And for what? Do you honestly think that you'll overtake S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Pierce laughed, high and cold. Steve shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Overthrowing S.H.I.E.L.D. will be a lot easier than you think. Those people that you've killed or knocked out? Those are just the Hydra guards, the soldiers. The actual agents, well, let's just say that they don't work cooped up in here."

"They're part of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Hydra agents," Tony said, his eyes wide.

Pierce nodded. "Exactly. What S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't know is that they're working with people who are slowly controlling and brainwashing them. One day, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be Hydra. We won't need to hide in here. We can be out in the open, rewriting civilization and creating harmony."

"Hmm, I don't know about that," Tony said, shrugging. "When you oppress people, they always rise up. Someday, those omegas are going fight back and I'll get to say 'I told you so.'"

Suddenly, Pierce jumped up, still tied to the chair, and swung around, letting the legs of the chair smash into T'Challa. He grunted, stumbling backward. Pierce flung himself against the wall, breaking the chair. He grabbed a gun left on the ground and pointed it at Scott, who raised his hands.

Steve immediately reached for his gun but Pierce shouted out, "Don't move! Or I'll shoot him."

T'Challa and Tony, who were the only ones who had their guns out, pointed them at Pierce, who didn't even acknowledge that they were there.

Pierce opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Steve heard a faint whizzing sound and Pierce suddenly cried out in pain. He dropped the gun and his hands flew to his side, where there was a black arrow protruding from his skin.

Steve whipped his head around, spotting Clint, his bow drawn, and another arrow pointing at Pierce.

Thor and Rhodey moved forward, grabbing hold of Pierce. Thor broke the arrow in his side and forced him to stand up.

Steve focused on Clint. Behind him, Victor was walking slowly, supporting someone. They were shorter than he was, but not tiny, with shoulder-length brown hair and an arm that shone strangely in the light...

"Bucky!" Steve shouted, running towards him.

The omega raised his head when he heard his name being called. Steve didn't slow down as he nearly ran Bucky and Victor over and wrapped his arms around Bucky. Bucky's enthralling scent wrapped around him as he practically clung to Steve, buying his face in Steve's shoulder. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed out. "You were supposed to be staying home."

"Steve!" Victor warned. "Give him space!"

Steve stepped back, noticing for the first time all the wounds on Bucky's body. He was shirtless, displaying the gashes and bruises that littered his abdomen. One was really long, going from his right nipple to his left flank. It was jagged and looked almost like a knife cut. A flash of anger stabbed through Steve, and all he wanted to do was to kill every single alpha and beta that was part of Hydra again and again and again...

"What the hell happened?" he questioned. Bucky shook his head, wincing in pain.

"Woke...up here," he said softly. "Don't know."

"I swear, I'm going to kill whoever brought you here," Steve snarled out, clenching his jaw.

"Ah! You found our little runaway whore!"

Steve whirled around. It was Pierce.

"How are you, Winter Soldier?"

Bucky tensed up, breathing heavily as he stared at Pierce, who chuckled.

"I take it you haven't forgotten about all the fun we've had together, have you?"

"Shut up!" Steve shouted at him. Thor smashed his fist into Pierce's jaw. The Hydra leader let out a squeak and tried to rip his arms from Thor and Rhodey's grasp, but failed.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked Bucky, gently. The omega nodded, wrapping his arms around himself, shivering slightly.

"Here." Steve took off his black jacket and wrapped it around Bucky. He nodded at Steve but didn't say anything.

"We passed a room that said 'Omega Files' by the way Steve," Clint said, glancing over at him. He nodded.

Steve had mentioned to Clint once before that he wanted to see if Hydra kept files on their omegas and find Bucky's to see if Bucky could get his memory back by reading it.

"I'll go check it out," he said.

"Alone?" Victor asked, and Steve nodded.

"Will you be okay?" he asked Bucky. The omega nodded, seeming annoyed, and said, "I'll be fine, Steve. Don't worry about me."

Steve gently touched Bucky's shoulder, then walked past him and into the maze of hallways.

***

Steve found the room that Clint was talking about. It was small and dimly lit, like all the rooms in the Hydra facility, but the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with filing cabinets. Steve walked over to the first cabinet of 2 labeled 'A' and pulled it open. It was stuffed with folders that were labeled with the last name first, first name second.

Steve sighed. Finding Bucky's name would take a very long time.

He pulled out the folder labeled Adams, Thomas, and opened it. Fortunately, there was a picture of the omega as soon as he opened it. It wasn't Bucky. He put it back and continued on, skipping over the girls' names and glancing at the boys' folders.

He went through all the folders with the last name of 'A' and was starting to lose steam. It was taking longer then he had expected. When he opened the cabinet labeled 'B', there were only a few.

Thank god, he thought as he pulled out the first folder. It was Bailey, Kyle's folder. Steve put it back with just a glance at the picture and picked up the next one, which read 'Barnes, James.'

He opened it up and glanced at the picture. He was about to put it back, but his brain stopped him. He opened the folder up and stared longer at the picture. It was looked like a high school picture. The omega's dark hair was clipped short and neat, and he was clean-shaven. He had a cleft chin, one that Steve recognized very much.

_Bucky?_

His breathing accelerated as he skimmed the omega's folder.

_Full name: James Buchanan Barnes_

_Date of birth: March 10th, 1994_

_Found: In a valley near Craiova, Romania_

_Height: 5'9"_

_Weight: 167 lbs_

_Fertile: Yes_

_Pups: Oliver Jacob Davis, born December 12th, 2014, Madison Emilia Conley, born November 1st, 2015, Thalia Alexandra Weaver, born September 27th, 2016, Jessica Olivia Rosamond Reid-Hill, born July 15th, 2017._

_Miscarriage: Yes_

_Price: $25,000,000_

 

There were tons of more information attached, strings of numbers that Steve didn't understand. He only felt more sympathy for Bucky.

_It must've been terrible, giving birth to 4 pups yet not being able to hold them, to care for them, hell to even see them. If I were him, I would have-_

"And what do we have here?"

Steve whirled around, surprised.

A man was standing there, dressed in all black, with a bulletproof vest, a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. He tipped his head, giving Steve a creepy smile. As he stepped into the room, Steve's hand immediately went to his own gun, in its holster. He was an alpha, Steve could tell from the disgusting scent that he brought with him into the room, and looked very strong. 

The man chuckled and raised his hands. "Woah, big guy. None of that now."

He lunged at Steve, his knife missing Steve's face by an inch. Steve spun around and pulled out his gun, but the man kicked it out of his hands. Steve hesitated for a second too long and the man wrapped his hand around Steve's neck, slamming him against the file cabinet wall.

Steve gasped for air, clawing at the man's arm. He raised his knife and held it to Steve's cheek.

"Now, tell me. What were you doing with the Winter Soldier's file? I won't have you taking him from me, he's one of my favorites."

Steve tried his hardest not to imagine this alpha raping Bucky. Another rush of anger ran through him, giving him a surge of strength. "We already have," he managed out, then kneed the man in his chest.

The hand wrapped around his throat opened, and Steve fell to the floor. He quickly crawled over to his gun and grabbed it, pointing at the man.

"Who are you anyway?" he questioned him. The alpha smirked, spreading his hands.

"Is that really important right now?" he replied, pointing his gun at Steve's head and wrapping his finger around the trigger.

"One wrong move and you're dead," he snarled out.

"You too," Steve snapped.

For what seemed like hours, the 2 just stood and sat there, fully loaded guns pointed at each other.

"Who's gonna make the first move, big guy? We can't stay here forever," the alpha hissed out.

"You tell me your name first, and I'll let you take me," Steve said. "You'll have nowhere to take me, however, seeing as we've captured Alexander Pierce and killed most of your soldiers."

Steve could see the cogs whirring in his opponent's brain, thinking about what to do next. His gun wavered for a fraction of a second, before his finger pulled the trigger.

Without thinking, Steve grabbed the nearest thing he could find- a large piece of metal on the floor- and held it up in front of his face. The bullet hit the metal and dinged off of it.

"What the-"

Steve fired at the alpha from behind his new shield, but missed by a few centimeters. He stood up and began to run at the alpha, keeping the shield in front of him. He heard him shoot 3 more times, all unsuccessful, before Steve rammed into him, smashing him up against the wall.

He slammed the shield into the man's face, again and again, images of Bucky and the man flashing through his brain.

What the man probably did to Bucky, Bucky crying and telling him to stop, the man beating Bucky just before throwing him out on the streets.

Steve didn't stop even when he heard the snapping of bones and the screams. He didn't stop even when he felt the body underneath him go lifeless, slumping against the wall.

He finally stepped away, dropping his shield and the now-dead body.

He stared in horror down at the bloodied mess.

_Was that me?_

Steve stared at his hands.

_Did I do that?_

"Hey guys, there are some black cars parked outside the Strand Theater. People are getting out. It looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. You should get out of there if you can," Bruce said through Steve's earpiece.

"There's no time," Tony replied. "We'll just have to wait until they come."

"At least they'll know that Steve's not crazy," Natasha said.

Steve stared down at the body of the nameless alpha for a long time before finally walking out of the file room, Bucky's folder in one hand, his gun in the other, ready to face S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, I'm not the best a writing fight scenes and I probably made a lot of mistakes, but WHOOO! The big fight scene is over! And I'm half way done with this story!


	18. Bucky

Steve was gone when Bucky awoke. 

He sat in the kitchen, poking at the pancakes he had made himself. Bucky could hardly believe that the day was here, the day when Steve would possibly die. 

Bucky sighed and pushed his plate away. He wasn't hungry. 

 _If he_ does  _die, it'll be all my fault,_ he thought. I  _was the one who told him about Hydra._ I  _was the one who led him to do this._

Bucky stood up and threw the pancakes away, then rinsed his plate off and put it in the dishwasher. 

_What will I do if Steve dies? He was the only person I know who's kind to me._

Bucky had never met Steve's friends, even though Steve told Bucky a lot about them. 

Just then, the doorbell rang. Bucky froze, his heart beating. 

_Who the hell could that be?_

He got up slowly, and crept over to a window that was adjacent to the door so that he could see who was there. It was a man, tall and lean, all dressed in black, wearing sunglasses in the cloudy morning. 

Bucky swallowed hard and moved away from the window, but it was too late. He saw the man turn his face at the last second before he ducked below the window. He was seen. 

Bucky swore under his breath and froze where he was crouching, breathing hard. The doorbell rang again. 

"I know you're in there!" A pause. 

"I'm coming in if you don't open this door in ten seconds! Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one..."

Suddenly, Bucky heard a huge crash. And another. He realized that the man was trying to break the door down. 

Bucky snuck over to the knife block and quietly grabbed the huge, butcher knife. He held it in his left hand, knowing that that was the arm that held the most power. He held his breath as he heard another huge crash.

_That door won't hold up forever..._

Sure enough, the next large crash that he heard was the door swinging open. 

Bucky stood up and raised his arm, ready to strike, but the man was faster. As soon as he rounded the corner, in a flash of silver, he held a knife up to Bucky's throat. 

"Drop it, or I'll make sure you wish you were dead," the man snarled out. Bucky took a moment to consider his options. The man defiantly had the upper hand. His scent drifted over to Bucky, carrying the burnt rubber scent of alpha. 

Bucky studied the man. The hand that was holding the knife had a ring on it. A tiny, gold ring in the shape of an octopus that looked like it had wound its tentacles around the man's finger. The octopus's eyes were made out of tiny rubies. Bucky had seen that ring before. 

Hydra. 

He dropped his knife, and the alpha smiled. 

"Glad to see you making the right decisions at last, Winter Soldier," he said, grabbing Bucky's metal arm. He took out a single hand cuff from his back pocket and clasped it on Bucky's metal wrist. Bucky could feel his arm deactivate, making it useless. When the man let go of him, his arm dropped uselessly at his side. 

"How did you find me?" he asked. His tongue felt like sand paper. 

The alpha shrugged. "Wasn't that hard. Now, you're coming with me. I must say, we were all impressed when we got a call saying that you were still alive. We were almost gonna let you go...until we heard about this  _Steve Rogers,_ questioning about us. We can't have that, can we? Thankfully, he's coming to us, so that will make ending him all the easier. But you? You're gonna be tortured for exploiting our secrets." 

The alpha raised his knife once more, pressing it against Bucky's chest, right where his heart was. Bucky narrowed his eyes. 

"Did you  _really_ expect me to be loyal to you, though?"

He tried to kick the alpha, but his opponent was ready. He slashed the knife across Bucky's face and grabbed his neck. 

"Let's go,  _omega_ ," he spat. 

***

"Bucky?" 

Bucky was jolted from his memories. He was in a hospital room, sitting on the edge of his bed. He glanced up at the person who'd said his name. 

It was Steve. 

Bucky melted into Steve's hug as the alpha wrapped his strong arms around him. Bucky hadn't seen Steve since they had been in Hydra; Bucky had been whisked away by paramedics who were there to help the hurt omegas. And  _oh my god,_ there were a lot of omegas. 

Bucky became popular among the nurses and doctors because he was the only one who'd managed to survive Hydra's death beating, not to mention because of his metal arm. After taking tons of tests and asking him many questions, he was shoved into the hospital room and left there for about an hour. 

He inhaled Steve's scent. It had always managed to calm Bucky down. 

"Oh my god, I'm so glad you're safe," Steve was saying.

"What about you?" Bucky asked, pulling back from the hug to inspect Steve. He had some scratches all over his body, and what looked like a knife slash on his arm. Bucky gently touched the wound and Steve winced in pain. 

"How'd you get that?" he asked. 

"Fighting Brock Rumlow," Steve replied. 

Bucky's eyes grew wide. "You found him?" 

"Yeah. Um, Bucky, I...I killed him." 

Bucky paused. He had wanted Rumlow dead so bad, but to hear it now coming out of Steve's mouth...

"Did you really?" 

"Yeah. I think I crushed his skull with a piece of metal." 

_Oh, Jesus. Did not need that image in my head._

Bucky nodded, then glanced down at his hands. 

"I'm sorry." 

Bucky lifted his head, staring into Steve's bright blue eyes. "Why are you sorry?" he asked. "He deserved it." 

Steve shrugged. "I killed somebody." 

"And Rumlow's killed hundreds! What is it that they say? An eye for an-"

"Mr. Barnes?" 

Bucky broke off as the door opened and a man entered the room. He was short, but had an aura of power. His hair was gray his face wrinkled, yet he was still handsome and looked strong enough to break Bucky's flesh arm. 

"Who?" Bucky said, confused. Even though he was an omega, he was not at all intimidated by this man's presence. Besides, he was the taller one. 

"Um...apparently that's your real name," Steve said after a slight pause. "James Barnes." 

Bucky blinked. He tried to search his memories for someone calling him by that name, but he was getting nothing. "It is?" he said, confused. 

The man stepped closer, and Bucky managed to catch a whiff of his scent. Roses. 

_He's an omega._

"Everett K. Ross, C.I.A.," the omega said, flashing an ID in front of Bucky's face. 

 _He's part of the C.I.A.? I didn't know that omeags could be agents of_ anything _, really._

"I'm here to ask you a few questions. Would you mind stepping out for a bit?" he asked, turning to Steve. Steve hesitated, turning to Bucky. 

"I'll be fine," Bucky reassured him. Steve nodded, and exited the room. 

"He's a really caring alpha," Ross observed. 

Bucky could feel his face growing warm. "Oh no, we're not...together." 

"Mm-hmm," Ross said, raising an eyebrow. 

Ross asked Bucky all the regular questions, how long were you raped, did Hydra give you that metal arm, do you remember anything before Hydra? 

Bucky hated answering the last question. It made him feel useless. 

Ross nodded, jotting down Bucky's answers. "All the other omegas don't remember what they were before Hydra as well. We've given them their files, but only a few have remembered." 

"Files?" Bucky echoed. 

"Yeah. Hydra kept records on all of their omegas, thankfully. We have yours, if you'd like to see it."

Bucky nodded enthusiastically and Ross left the room, only to return about a minute later with a folder in his hands. He handed it to Bucky, who opened it slowly. 

Inside was a picture of an omega. It looked like a high school picture. The omega looked young, with neat, short, dark hair. He was smiling. Bucky recognized the omega as himself. 

 _Is that really what I looked like?_  

He supposed it really wasn't  _that_ different, just his hair was a lot shorter. 

The folder also held his information. He skimmed it, his eyes stopping to where it listed the names of his pups. He had one boy and three girls. He could feel his eyes welling up with tears. 

_Oliver, Madison, Thalia, and Jessica. I wonder where they are today. I wonder if they ever doubt that their adopted parents are their real parents. Or maybe not, since the oldest is only three._

Bucky wiped his cheek. 

"Are you alright?" Ross asked softly. 

Bucky nodded. "It's just my pups. I never got to hold them."

They were silent for an awkward moment, before a nurse came in to check Bucky's vitals again. Ross left, leaving behind the folder, which Bucky was grateful of. 

The nurse told Bucky that he could be discharged in the morning, but that he had to sleep in the hospital. She left, and Steve returned with a big smile on his face.

"You get to go home tomorrow! Isn't that great?"

Bucky nodded, smiling as well. He couldn't help it. Steve's grins were just contagious. 

 ***

Steve kept insisting that he was going to stay at the hospital with Bucky, but after a long time of persuading him, the alpha finally agreed to sleep in a motel not too far away.  

Bucky read his file over and over again, but nothing was coming back. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember why he was found in a valley in Romania, but he simply couldn't. 

He kept repeating his name under his breath until he fell into a dreamless sleep. 

***

"Buck, are you okay? You've been quiet ever since we came home." 

"Yeah, I just wish I could remember my life before Hydra," Bucky said, sighing. Steve nodded and sat down at the chair across from Bucky. They were sitting in their kitchen; Bucky was eating lunch. 

He stared down at his bowl of chicken soup, wondering if the soggy chicken and salty broth held answers. 

Just then, the doorbell rang. For a wild moment, Bucky wondered if it was Hydra again, but relaxed when he remembered that they were locked up now. 

_It's all done._

Steve got up and answered. Bucky heard him and the stranger talking. 

"Oh! Mr. Fury..."

"Rogers." 

"Er, come in." 

Bucky glanced up as Steve re-entered the kitchen, with a tall man trailing behind him. Bucky didn't even need to scent the air to know that the stranger was an alpha. He had dark skin and was wearing all black. His head was bald and he an eye patch was covering one eye. 

"This must be James," the alpha said, turning to Bucky. 

"Bucky," he corrected him. The alpha's eyebrow raised slightly, but he stepped forward and offered a large hand to Bucky. 

"My name is Nick Fury, director of S.H.-"

"I know who you are," Bucky interrupted, shaking his hand. Realizing that that sounded creepy, he quickly added, "Steve told me." 

Fury nodded, glancing at Steve. 

"I'm here to discuss your work last night, Rogers." 

Steve swallowed hard. Bucky could see the fear in his eyes. He knew that what Steve and the others did was illegal, and that Fury was most likely here to arrest him. 

"Even though you _did_ break into an old, private building, commit murder, and go behind my back, I have chosen to ignore those facts and focus on the fact that you, Romanov, Stark, Wilson, Barton, and the others, have successfully taken down Hydra. I will admit that I did not believe you at first and that was probably the biggest mistake I could ever make. You really showed me up last night, Rogers. After we led the Hydra agents away, they told us that some of our own S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were working for Hydra. One of them included Agent 13, or Sharon Carter, who you seemed to know when you came to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters."

"Sharon was working for Hydra? But she's an omega!" Steve said, clearly surprised. 

"She's actually half-omega, half-beta. It's a rare genetic disorder. Generally, half-omegas, half-betas have no smell, but Carter was found to be using omega scent spray. Why, I have no idea, although Hydra accepted her even though she was half-omega," Fury explained. "She's locked up now with the rest of Hydra." 

"What about Alexander Pierce?" Bucky spoke up. 

"Electrocution," Fury said. "There is no way that we can do to him what he did to all those omegas and still be within the law, so we figured we would just remove him and not have to worry about him anymore."

Bucky blinked at Fury's blunt words. He wanted Pierce to be tortured excruciatingly for the rest of his life, but Fury was right, it would be illegal. Not inhuman, though, because of what Pierce did to others.

"We want to give you a reward," Fury said, turning to Steve. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Steve. "For your service to this country." 

Steve stared at the paper for a moment, before looking up at the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

"I can't accept this," he said quietly. 

Fury looked surprised. "Is it not enough? We can raise it if you want." 

Steve shook his head and handed the piece of paper back to him. "I don't want any money. I don't want to be recognized; I don't want fame. I just want to keep living my life with Bucky. I don't want anything to change except that now Bucky doesn't have to worry about being hurt again." He paused. "I do have one request, though."

Fury nodded. "Anything," he said. 

"I don't want the public to know about this. It'll only make them angry. They'll be mad at S.H.I.E.L.D. and they'll be scared that Hydra might come back again. If you could just cover this up, that'd be great." 

Fury smiled and stood up. He shook hands with Steve. "Of course, Rogers," he said. "I understand." He turned and nodded at Bucky. "Take care of yourself, Barnes. You did a good deed to the world in telling Rogers about Hydra. Just one small word helps." 

Bucky smiled and watched as Fury showed himself to the door and left. 

Bucky turned towards Steve. The alpha had sat down. He looked tired. 

"You just saved the world, you know," Bucky said, smiling. "You should look at least a  _little_ happy." 

Steve looked up at Bucky, smiling back. Bucky loved Steve's smile. It was so genuine and open. 

"What do you want to do now, Bucky?" he asked. Bucky frowned. 

"Huh?" 

"What do you want to do? Do you want to get a job, go to college? Do you want a house of your own?"

Bucky thought for a moment. What  _did_ he want? Before he told Steve about Hydra, he was just trying to get through each day. But now, a whole new door of possibilities had opened up for him. There were so many things he wanted to do, but only one thing he  _needed_ to do. 

"I want to get my memory back." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I finally updated! And it's a long chapter!  
> I couldn't resist putting in the part about Sharon being part of Hydra. ;)


	19. Steve

**March 2018**

Steve was getting frustrated.

For nearly three weeks now, he and Bucky had been researching how to get Bucky's memory back. It became clear after the first week, however, that googling it had no effect. All the results were for people who had lost their memory in accidents or because of a disease. Bucky's memories had been forcefully removed. 

They'd been to doctors, specialists, but had been given no answers. One doctor even recommended Bucky to a gypsy who would "get his memory back through communication with those of 'the beyond.'" 

Bucky was getting equally as frustrated, maybe even more. He had gone quiet again, shutting himself up in his room with the Hydra folder. Steve had tried to find Bucky's four pups. He had only found one of them, Madison Emilia Conely, in an online newspaper article about a car crash in California that murdered all five members of the Conely family, including 14-month-old Madison. 

When Steve told Bucky this, Bucky started crying, but refused Steve's comfort. He just ran upstairs and didn't come out for the rest of the night, skipping dinner. 

Towards the end of March, Steve was starting to get really worried. Whenever he saw Bucky, the omega looked nearly dead, with pale skin, dark circles under his eyes, and all skin and bones. He kept knocking on Bucky's door, but getting no answer. 

Finally, on April 5th, Steve cracked. He marched up to Bucky's door and burst in without knocking. 

The omega bolted up. He had been lying in bed, under the covers, just staring at the ceiling. 

"Bucky, this is insane!" Steve hissed. "You can't just waste away in here."

Bucky shrugged. "There's no point," he said. "I'm never going to find my pups, and I'll never get my memory back." 

Steve narrowed his eyes. "You need to get out of this hole of self-pity. If you can't live your old life, then live a new one! And I'll never stop looking for a way to get your memory back until it's definite that there's no way at all. Hell, I'll go to Australia to find someone to help you!" Steve took a deep breath. Even though he wasn't showing it physically, Steve could tell that Bucky was a little scared by his change in scent. 

"You're not alone in this," Steve said, more gently. Bucky nodded and turned his head away from Steve. The alpha could see tears glistening in his eyes. 

"Why don't you take a shower and eat something?" Steve suggested. 

"Okay," Bucky replied, sighing. He stood up and brushed past Steve into the hall bathroom. Steve rubbed his temples. 

 _If I was in Bucky's situation, would I really react any differently?_ he thought, picking up some dirty laundry that Bucky left on the floor and threw them in the hamper. He straitened the comforter on the bed and pulled up the shades, bringing light into the room. 

He walked downstairs and checked the time. It was about two in the afternoon. Steve grabbed his phone and dialed Nick Fury's number. He picked up after four rings. 

"Fury speaking."

"Hey, it's me, Steve Rogers." 

"Oh hi, Rogers. How's Bucky doing?"

"Um, not so good. That's what I've called you about. Bucky can't get his memory back. He still doesn't remember anything that happened before Hydra. We've been to doctors and stuff, but nothing helps."

"Well I don't think there's anything really that I can do about that, Rogers. I'm not a magician. About half of the omegas that we rescued have gotten their memory back once they were put out in the real world, and about half didn't. We realized that the half that didn't were the more 'disobedient' omegas, the ones who fought back and didn't give up. We're not sure exactly why, but we have a theory- maybe Hydra wiped their memories more than once, which somehow made it harder for them to remember."

Steve shrugged and started pacing around the kitchen. 

"Do you have any theories for how they can get their memories back?" he asked. 

"Not a clue," Fury responded. "I don't think it's something that seeing their families again to trigger, and anyway, it's not like they have much families to go back to. All the close relatives of the omegas were murdered by Hydra." 

Steve sighed. "Well, contact me if you ever think of a possible solution." 

"I will, Rogers."

"Thanks. 'Bye." 

Steve hung up, feeling lost. If S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't know how to get the omegas' memories back, then it was probably hopeless. 

***

Steve's phone was ringing. It was two days after Steve called Fury, and things had been normal, mostly. Bucky was emerging from his room more to eat and shower. He had even walked around the neighborhood a few times, much to Steve's delight. He seemed happier, but there were some times when he would just plunge into a dark mood, depressed about his pups and memory. 

Steve answered his phone. He was driving back from work, anxious to get home after a long day. 

"Hello?" he said without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello, Steve," the person on the other end replied. It was T'Challa. 

"Word got to me that you are looking for a way to get Bucky's memory back."

Steve frowned. "Okay..."

"And I think I may have a solution." 

"Please don't tell me to visit a doctor. Because Bucky and I've been to a total of seven doctors, and all them have either called us crazy or suggested that we perform black magic."

"No. My solution is not black magic, I promise you. It is simply science. If we meet up over the next week, I can explain it in more detail." 

Steve responded with a yes immediately. Even though he was pretty sure that T'Challa's method was just like all the other doctors', he would still listen to his suggestion. They set up a time and a place before hanging up. 

***

Steve, Bucky, and T'Challa met up on Tuesday night, at a small restaurant on the outskirts of the city. Steve could tell that Bucky was nervous, unsure of T'Challa. 

"Alright. What's your solution?" Steve asked once they had gotten their food. 

"I have a sister named Shuri. She is the leader of the Wakandan Design Group. She is also the head scientist of Vibranium Labs in Oakland, California. Her specialty is memory recollection. And not memory loss as in amnesia. Memory loss as in getting your memory forcibly taken away from you." 

He paused and glanced at Bucky. "Hydra is not the only group that does that, you know. Shuri has only tested her method on four other people, two of which have successfully gotten their memories back, and one of which received only partial memories. I cannot explain it as good as she can, but I can tell you, this is the only answer that you will get in this day and age." 

Bucky was silent for a moment. "What can go wrong?" 

T'Challa pursed his lips, as if deciding whether to tell Bucky or not. "Well..." he said slowly. "You could only get some of your memory back, or it could not work at all. Or your brain could shut down and remain functionless." 

"So I could die?" 

"Well, yes." 

"How does it work?" 

"Shuri can explain it better, but basically you are put in this large, upright tube, as she works with microtubes to remove the 'wall' in your brain that is keeping your old memories shut away."

Steve glanced at Bucky. The omega looked deep in thought, staring down at his hands. 

"Bucky?" Steve asked gently. He glanced up sharply. 

"I just need more time to think about it," he said. Steve nodded and said, "This might be out only chance."

"But what if something goes wrong? What if I can't get my memory back? What if I die?" 

Steve opened his mouth to say, 'You're not going to die,' but Bucky wasn't done talking yet. 

"I just need some time to think about it, that's all." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I finally updated.  
> Bucky and Steve had finally found a possible solution to getting Bucky's memories back. Will Bucky accept? And, if he does, will everything go safe and sound, or will things take a turn for the worse?


	20. Bucky

Bucky knew he was going to hate flying. 

Just by looking at the small, private plane, he knew. There were so many things that could go wrong- the engines could blow up, they could run out of gas mid-flight, they could crash into a giant killer bird, etc. 

 _'Thank you, Wright brothers,'_ he thought. 

"Nope. I can't do this," he said, turning away from the plane, only to be stopped by Steve's strong arm. 

"C'mon, Bucky," the alpha said. "Unless you want to drive two days to California?" 

 _'That would slightly be better.'_ Bucky sighed in defeat. 

"It's only six hours. It'll be over before you know it." 

Bucky had agreed to having his brain poked at by a scientist trying to destroy a wall in his brain. It was dangerous, and Bucky knew that he would probably die, but if he didn't do it, then he would have to live the rest of his life, going mad without having his past memories before Hydra. That thought was just too overwhelming for him. 

So, here he was, getting ready to take the six-hour flight from New York City to Oakland, California, in T'Challa's tiny, private plane, which would probably crash and kill him before he even got the deadly surgery. 

"Lighten up, Bucky. We're going to California!" said Steve, always the optimist. 

"I'll lighten up when all potential causes of my death are behind me," Bucky said plainly before marching up the rickety stairs of the plane. 

The pilot greeted him, all smiles and "How are you?". Bucky felt bad afterwards about glaring at her, but really it wasn't necessary. 

The cabin of the plane was neat and modern, with eight chairs, two together in two rows. They looked like they were made out of real leather and could recline. Bucky felt better when he saw the TV. 

_'Thank God I'll have something to distract me.'_

He realized quickly that there would only be five people on the plane- him, Steve, T'Challa, the pilot and a flight attendant. 

"Um...shouldn't there be an assistant pilot?" Bucky whispered to Steve, who was sitting in the row next to him. Bucky had chosen an aisle seat, not wanting to sit next to a window to see how far above the ground they were. 

Steve just smiled and said, "We'll be fine, Buck." 

Bucky wasn't so convinced. 

***

He threw up two times in the first three hours. 

Coming back from his third trip to the bathroom, Steve asked if he was okay, but was given only the evil eye. 

Bucky's stomach felt like it was trying to make its way up his throat and crawl out his mouth. He had tried to distract himself with Live PD from A&E, and it had worked, for a little while. 

When the plane  _finally_ landed in Oakland, California, Bucky had wanted to kiss the ground so badly. 

"Those were the worst six hours of my life," he mumbled out while Steve was busy thanking the flight attendant and the pilot, always smiling. 

T'Challa ushered them into a sleek, black car to go to Vibranium Labs. 

"Today will be a rest day," he explained. "Get used to the lab, to Shuri. Tomorrow, Shuri will explain how the procedure will work and then begin. It takes about twenty-four hours to complete." 

Steve's eyebrows rose. "That long?" 

"Trust me. It's good that it takes a long time. You wouldn't want to rush something like this." 

***

Vibranium Labs was placed between apartment buildings, looking like a fish out of water with its black-and-gray modern look amongst old, run-down, brown buildings. 

It was low and flat to the ground, with a large, glass dome on the roof. When you walked inside, however, it looked massive. 

The floor was made out of some dark stone and the walls were a clean white color. There was a huge statue of a panther in the middle, underneath the glass dome. The statue was black, but shimmered with purple when the light hit it. 

Bucky craned his neck to see up through the glass dome, staring up into the blue sky and the sun. 

"Wow. This is really cool," Steve said, staring around the huge room. 

"Thank you," T'Challa said, smiling. "This way, please." 

They followed him to a receptionist desk where a woman was standing behind it. Her head was shaved and tattooed. She wore a simple black dress and was typing something on a holographic computer. 

"Your Highness," she said without looking up when they approached her. "I see you've gotten our visitors here in one piece." 

"Well, in  _almost_ one piece," Bucky muttered under his breath. The woman looked up and smiled at him. 

"Of course, Okoye. Did you expect anything less?" T'Challa responded. 

"Honestly? Yes. I kind of did." 

 T'Challa rolled his eyes and said, "Lead our guests to their rooms. I need to speak with Shuri." 

Okoye nodded and emerged from behind the desk. "This way," she said, touching Steve's arm a little bit to direct him away from the huge panther statue. 

"What's that made of?" he asked in awe. 

"Vibranium," Okoye responded. "We use vibranium in everything that we can."

"Wow," Steve said again then proceeded to question Okoye in the metal. Bucky lagged behind them, staring around as they passed through the room. They entered a large, empty room next, with much shorter ceilings than the first one. They were led into a long hallway with lots of doors on either side. Okoye stopped at the end. 

"This is your room, Mr. Rogers," she said, opening the door on the right for Steve. The alpha walked in, his eyes wide. 

"And this is yours, Mr. Barnes."

"Bucky," the omega said quickly, walking in. 

_Holy crap._

The room was  _huge._ The wall opposite the door was completely covered with glass, with a huge, king-sized bed adjacent to it. The bedspread was black with delicate veins of purple breaking up the darkness. The walls were white and the floor was the same dark stone as all the other rooms, but there was a soft-looking dark purple carpet underneath the bed. 

Bucky walked into the room, running his hand along a dark wooden dresser with a huge mirror. 

"Your two rooms are joined," Okoye said, pointing to a door that connected Bucky and Steve's rooms. 

"Thanks," he said. She nodded. "I'll leave you now to get settled in," she said, then shut the door. 

Bucky set his rolling suitcase down on the floor. He opened it up and started unpacking, shoving his clothes into the dresser. He hadn't brought a lot, since T'Challa said that they would only be here for about a week and they could do laundry when they pleased. 

The connected bathroom had a huge shower, double sinks, and a  _jacuzzi_. Bucky died right on the spot. 

"Isn't this great?" Steve said, opening the door that connected their rooms. Bucky nodded. He had to admit, he was excited about living here for a week, but the thought that he might die kept popping up in his head now and then and ruining his excitement. 

"T'Challa wants us to meet him at dinner at 6 o'clock, by the way," the alpha said. "He just texted me. He said that we should meet back in the  _atruim_ , as they call it, and that Okoye will take us to the dinning room." 

Bucky nodded again. "I'm going to take a shower before then," he said. "I still smell like throw-up." 

Steve smirked. "Good idea. I guess I'll take one too." 

After his shower, the duration of which consisted of Bucky wishing he could relax in the bath, but wanting to save it for when he had a little more time, because it was getting close to dinner time, someone knocked on his door. Bucky wrapped his towel around himself and padded to it, opening it to reveal a very muscular alpha. 

"King T'Challa has sent me to inform you that dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes. Okoye will come and show you the way when it is time," he said. 

"O-okay. Thank you," Bucky replied, blushing a little. The alpha moved on to Steve's door to repeat the same message. 

Bucky retreated back into his room and got dressed, slipping on a simple pair of jeans and his favorite red henley shirt. He brushed his hair and ran his fingers through it for a moment, considering getting it cut. He had thought about it for a while after seeing his old picture from the Hydra file, but he kind of liked it long. He tied his hair back in a short ponytail and stood around in his room awkwardly. He still had three minutes until Okoye would come. 

She came shortly and led him and Steve, who looked and smelled very nice after his shower, through the strange halls of the building until they came to the dining room. The walls were white, and the floors were covered with a large, dark rug that had a strange, white symbol on it that looked like an arrow surrounded by a box. 

T'Challa was sitting at the head of the table, with two other women and three other men sitting around him. T'Challa introduced all of them to Steve and Bucky, but Bucky was only interested in one of the women- Shuri, T'Challa's sister and the head scientist, the one who was going to get his memories back. 

She was younger than Bucky would've thought, she looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. She was wearing a simple yet modern white dress and had her hair coiled on the top of her head. She smiled widely when she was introduced to Bucky. 

Bucky felt a little awkward, sitting there in his jeans and t-shirt among the fancily dressed African men and women, but then Shuri started talking to him and he forgot all about it. 

She was funny and friendly, making Bucky feel as if they'd known each other for a long time. 

Once, during the dinner, Steve passed Bucky a platter of meat that was unknown to Bucky, but he took some anyway, his heart fluttering as Steve smiled broadly at him. 

"You like him?" Shuri whispered to Bucky. 

"What? N-no I don't. Where'd you get that idea?" Bucky sputtered back. Shuri just chuckled.  

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways, with Steve and Bucky going back to their rooms. As he was walking out, Shuri caught Bucky's arm and said, "Tomorrow we'll start on the surgery, if that's all right with you, yeah?" 

Bucky nodded, feeling nervous. Tomorrow was the day he would either die or get back the memories that were stolen from him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Finally an update that didn't take me two months!!  
> How will things turn out tomorrow? Will Bucky die or will the surgery be successful? Or will something happen that will cause Shuri to not go through with the experiment?


	21. Steve

It was the day of Bucky's brain surgery, and Steve was as nervous as hell. Bucky could die. He could die and Steve would never see him again. 

The alpha tugged a t-shirt over his head. It was nearly time for breakfast, and then it would be time for  _it._

Someone knocked at his door, startling Steve. It took  him a few moments to realize that it was coming from the door that adjoined his room and Bucky's. He walked over and opened it. Bucky was there, leaning up against the door frame. He looked worried. 

"Hey," Steve said softly. Bucky just nodded, then swept past Steve and into his room, bringing along his honey and vanilla scent with him. Steve inhaled deeply, then turned around to face the omega.

"You okay, Buck?" he said. He received a long sigh in response. 

Bucky walked up to Steve so that they were only a few steps away from each other. "If I don't make it through today, there's something that I want to do." 

"And what's that?" Steve murmured, his eyes landing on Bucky's lips. They were so close...all Steve had to do was lean in and...

And then Bucky was kissing him. Gently. Bucky's lips were like everything Steve had imagined, full, but slightly chapped, but oh so soft and warm. He brought his hand up, gently stroking Bucky's cheek with his fingers. He ran his tongue along the omega's lips and Bucky parted them for him, deepening the kiss. 

Suddenly, Steve and Bucky were lying on Steve's bed, their shirts off, Bucky's jeans halfway down his legs. How they got there, Steve didn't know, but he didn't care. All he cared about was Bucky. 

Steve kissed down Bucky's neck, sucking lightly. The omega moaned softly, and Steve felt the vibrations running all throughout his body. 

"Damn," he breathed out onto the other's chest. 

"Steve," Bucky whispered. "I need you." 

Steve glanced up at Bucky, smirking at him. "Where do you need me?" 

"In me." 

Steve was on top of Bucky's gently pushing into him. The sweet smell of Bucky's slick split the air, and Steve knew that this was the first time Bucky had it gentle. And hell, Steve was going to make him feel so good. 

Steve rocked in and out of the omega's tight heat, trailing open-mouthed kisses down his back. He reached forward and wrapped his hand around Bucky, gently jerking him in sync with his slow and lazy thrusts. 

"Steve," Bucky panted, moaning long and low. Steve's senses were going insane, his nose filled with Bucky's scent and Bucky's scent only. He could feel himself reaching his climax. 

"Buck, I'm gonna..." he breathed out.

***

Steve jerked awake. He was lying on his stomach, in his bed, in the dark. He was hard and leaking, moments away from cumming. He had been dreaming. 

 _Of course I was,_ he thought.  _Bucky would_ never  _do that._

Steve rolled over, checking the time on his phone. It was 3:46 a.m. He sighed. It was a long time until he needed to get up. 

Steve slid a hand down his chest, damp with sweat. He paused at the waistband of his pants. Was he really about to do this? 

Yes. 

Yes he was. 

He jerked himself of in slow, firm strokes and came harder and longer than he had before, the image of him on top of Bucky thrusting into him stuck in his mind. 

Steve lay in his back, panting as he came down from his high. Yes, he was in love with Bucky. He was still sure that Bucky was his true mate. But...was he Bucky's?

Steve had heard of one-sided mates before. It was when one partner had a true mate, but their mate had a different one. You couldn't be truly happy without your true mate, so if they did get together, one would be happy, while the other one would not be. 

Steve was pretty sure that Bucky had a different mate. 

_I'm not going to force him to mate me. He can love whoever he wants._

Steve knew that one day, he was going to have to see Bucky waltz off with another alpha who could satisfy Bucky in ways that Steve couldn't. 

_I just have to make these last moments mean something._

***

Breakfast was tense and awkward. Both Steve and Bucky were nervous about what was to come, so they were silent at the table. Shuri must've been too, because she didn't say a word during the meal and Steve knew from last night that she was very chatty. T'Challa wasn't there. Some king business, Shuri had said. Some other people that Steve didn't know very well were also there, but they were talking amongst themselves in hushed, tensed voices. 

Finally, it was over, and as Steve was getting up to leave, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Shuri. 

"You and Bucky will meet me in the atrium at 10 o'clock, alright?" she said. 

Steve nodded, swallowing hard. It was 8:30.  

He followed Bucky back to their rooms, which they entered quietly. For the remainder of the time, Steve just laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about nothing in particular. He turned on the tv and flipped through the channels, but nothing sparked his interest. 

Finally, at 9:45, he slid out his room, meeting Bucky in the hallway. 

"Hey," Bucky said softly. Steve nodded in response. 

"You ready?" he asked the omega, who paused before answering. 

"I guess so." 

Steve could see that Bucky was thinking hard about something, his mind working. 

"C'mere," Steve murmured, holding open his arms. Bucky walked over and seemed to sink into Steve's embraced. The alpha discreetly inhaled the other's scent, fearing that it was the last time he would breathe in the delicious smell of honey and vanilla. 

Bucky held onto Steve for dear life and Steve's alpha couldn't help but feel proud. 

"The surgery is going to be fine," he tried. 

Bucky pulled back, staring at him hard. "How do you know?" 

"I just do." 

Bucky snorted. "That's not very comforting." He stepped back and brushed a fallen strand of hair away from his face. Steve suddenly wanted to kiss him. He licked his lips, thinking back to his dream about the omega. 

_Dammit._

"We should probably go," Bucky said, breaking Steve's moment. 

"Yeah, right," Steve said awkwardly as Bucky set off. Steve followed, feeling like a lost puppy. 

Shuri was waiting for them in the atrium. She smiled as the two approached. 

"How are you, Bucky?" she asked. Bucky shrugged. 

"I'm alright," he replied. Shuri nodded. "You'll be fine, I've done this two other times." 

With that, she led them away in a different direction from their rooms and the dining hall. Bucky shot a scared look at Steve. 

***

Shuri's lab was extremely high tech, with clean, white walls like the rest of Vibranium Labs. There were holographic projections of screens along the walls, showing pictures of the human brain with long paragraphs of small writing beside them. There were several white tables with various gadgets scattered on them, looking complicated and dangerous. 

In the middle was a room made out of glass with only one thing inside it- a large nearly-standing-up cylinder that looked like it was made to seat a human being. There was padding and straps, like somebody needed to be in there for a long time and restrained. 

"What's that?" Bucky asked, pointing to it. Shuri smiled a little. "I'll get to that in a moment," she said. 

There were several people wandering around the lab, bending over tables to fiddle with the gadgets, or reading the holographic screens. One passed close by Steve, Bucky, and Shuri, staring straight ahead with a blank face. He was wearing a white zipped-up suit with a high color. All of the others were wearing the same, and they were all males. 

 _Beta,_ Steve realized as he caught a whiff of the man's scent. 

"Alright," Shuri said, leading them over to a screen. She tapped it, pulling up a very detailed picture of the human brain. 

"Here is the limbic system, which controls your emotions, memories, and stimuli. Hydra has managed to pick and choose which data from this limbic system to 'put away.' They've managed to create a section of the limbic system to store the things they don't want you to remember or feel which they've separated from the rest of your brain by using a wall. 

"The surgery that I'm doing today will be to remove that wall. I will be using microscopic needles to make tiny punctures through it, which will eventually shatter it. However, it can be very hard to perform it using a working brain, so your body will be placed in that Cryostasis Chamber," she pointed to the cylinder in the glass room, "and your body temperature will be lowered to absolute zero, shutting down all your bodily functions. You will have to remain in the state for up to four hours before I can start the surgery." 

Bucky looked terrified. "What?!" 

"Trust me Bucky, it's the only safest way to make sure that this will actually work." 

Bucky exchanged and look with Steve. 

"So you'll freeze me, then poke at my brain to break down the wall that is forcing me to not remember things, and cross your fingers and hope that it works?" 

"Basically." 

"How will you wake me up from the Crystal-whatever thingy?" 

"Raise the temperature in the Chamber until your body temperature gets back to normal, then you should just wake up." 

Bucky swallowed hard. 

"Buck?" Steve said. "Are you still-" 

"I'm going to do it," Bucky cut him off. 

"Are you sure?" 

"Never more." 

Steve glanced at Shuri, who nodded. "Alright," she said. "Follow me." 

Steve watched as Shuri and Bucky walked into the glass room. The door shut behind them, completely cutting off their conversation. It looked like Shuri was explaining something to Bucky, and pointing out things on the Chamber. Bucky kept nodding. 

Finally, they walked back out. 

"She's getting me special clothes or whatever," Bucky explained quietly as Shuri disappeared somewhere. They stood for a minute in awkward silence before Shuri returned, carrying a white tank top and white pants. She showed Bucky the bathroom and he changed, but took way longer than it should've. When he came back, Steve saw that his eyes were kinda red. 

"Ready?" Shuri asked him, and he nodded. She led him once again over to the Cryostasis Chamber in the glass room. Steve stayed just outside it, peering through the walls. Bucky moved slowly into the Chamber, nearly standing up. Shuri gently tightening the straps across his chest and legs, said something to him, then exited. 

She moved to a small control panel outside, another scientist moving to help her. Steve stayed right where he was, staring into Bucky's eyes. Bucky was breathing heavy. 

 _It's okay,_ Steve mouthed to him. 

Shuri counted down from five, then turned a wheel on the panel. Steve watched as the Chamber slowly filled with a gas that looked like frost. Bucky closed his eyes. 

_I should've kissed him._

"He's under," he heard Shuri say, but sounded like she was under water. 

_Why didn't I?_

"Now we wait four hours?" asked the scientist. 

"Yes. Now we wait." 

_Because if I did, I don't think I would've been able to stop."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Will Shuri be able to complete the surgery, or will Shuri not be able to go through with it?  
> Hang in there- real Stucky moments are coming soon!  
> Also, I'm trash at smut.


	22. Bucky

When Bucky opened his eyes, he didn't know where he was. 

He was lying on a comfortable, white bed, in a white room with wall-to-wall soft, purple carpet. The walls were nearly bare except for a picture of a panther face, painted with blues and purples breaking through the black. He realized he was wearing soft and white tank top and pants when he pushed the covers off of himself. 

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. His legs were shaky. 

 _'Where the hell am I?'_ he thought. 

Just then, the door to the room swung open. Bucky jumped as a tall, blonde guy walked into the room. He was muscular and handsome, and Bucky didn't doubt that he was an alpha. 

"Er..." 

"How are you feeling, Buck?" the alpha asked, looking like he might cry or laugh or hug Bucky until his lungs got squished. 

"Um...I don't..."

But then the alpha's scent washed over him. Leather and old paper and pine. 

"Steve?" he breathed out, everything crashing into him. He remembered everything. The procedure, the battle with Hydra, meeting Steve, being a breeder, the train crash that brought him to Hydra, his entire family. 

"Oh, god." 

He stumbled forward, collapsing into Steve's arms. 

"Hey, hey. It's okay." 

Bucky didn't realize he was crying until Steve gently wiped away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. 

"I remember," he kept babbling. "I remember." 

Steve shushed him, brushing his hair away from his face. Bucky breathed in the alpha's scent, letting it calm him slightly. 

"Do you need to talk about it?"

Bucky nodded weakly. 

"I was born in Brooklyn. I had a younger sister named Rebecca. I was three when she was born. My parents weren't rich, my dad was a mechanic and my mom was a teacher, but they were both happy with their marriage. They rarely ever fought. I presented as omega at age fourteen, which was a surprise to my parents, because they were betas, and two betas generally don't give birth to a male omega. I started dating this guy named Josh Donahue. He was a beta and was pretty nice, but I just didn't like him enough to continue dating him. I just thought of him as a friend. 

"When I broke up with him, Josh got really mad and spread a rumor around the school about how I had cheated and slept with a thirty-year-old alpha. Everybody called me a slut and a whore and my parents were upset with me, even after I told them he was lying. We moved, then, to Ohio, and 'started new.' I didn't date in high school and didn't go to prom. I was kind of a goth in high school- I wore all black and glared at everyone and talked to nobody. 

"I graduated from high school and decided to take a gap year before I went to college to raise money to go to Ohio University. I just worked at a fast-food restaurant. Finally, the next year, I got to go to college. I got a boyfriend named Ryker Rogoff. He was pretty much the first alpha that I knew. He wanted to take things super fast- he wanted to mate me shortly after we'd met, but I refused.

"Then, in December of that year, my parents, Rebecca, and I took a plane to Romania to visit my grandmother because she lived there. My mom was born in Romania. We were on a train, traveling to a city near her, when Hydra...took over the train. T-the last thing I remember is t-talking to Becca. Then, there was this huge explosion and everything went black. I woke up in the snow, my entire b-body hurting, my left arm completely numb. There was a kind of ringing in my ear, and I c-couldn't see very well. Everything was b-blurry. Then a person leaned over m-me and...and...I blacked out again. T-then I woke up in..." 

They were sitting on the bed in Bucky's recovery room, Steve with his arm around Bucky. The omega trailed off and started crying, burying his face in his hands. Steve gently rubbed his back. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered. 

"Cinnamon," Bucky mumbled so softly that Steve made him repeat it. 

"Cinnamon?" he echoed. 

Bucky nodded. "Cinnamon and rosemary and fresh linens and citrus." He paused before continuing. "Oliver, Madison, Thalia, and Jessica...my pups." 

"Oh," Steve was quietly and Bucky took in a deep breath. 

"Hydra removed my memories of their scents," he explained. "So that I wouldn't go insane. Even if you take their pup away, an omega will always remember their pups' scent. Always." 

"Bucky...you know that Madison..."

Bucky nodded sharply. "Don't know about the other three, though," he said. "They could still be...alive." 

"C'mon," Steve murmured, helping Bucky to his feet. "Shuri said for you to take a shower once you've woken up and meet her in the lab." 

Bucky walked awkwardly into the bathroom, half supported by Steve as his legs were still shaky. He took a deep breath.

"So it worked?" 

"Well, you can remember your life before Hydra, can't you?" 

"I know, but like, no complications?" 

"None that Shuri can see. Trust me Buck, everything's alright."

Bucky smiled at Steve. 

***

"How are you feeling, Bucky?" Shuri asked when Steve and Bucky met her in the atrium. Bucky threw his arms around her.  

"Thank you so freaking much," he muttered in her ear. Shuri grinned widely. 

"So I take it you remember everything?" 

"Hell yes!" 

"Great! I just need to take your vitals now and we're going to talk about another surgery I think you'll like." 

Bucky blinked. "Another one?" he muttered. 

Shuri smiled. "I know you'll want this one," she reassured him. 

***

"Okay, so what about this next surgery?" Bucky demanded once Shuri had finished taking his vitals and telling him that everything looked fine and he wasn't dying. 

Shuri smiled, then went over to the holographic computers and pulled up a file labeled 'James Buchanan Barnes.' 

Bucky stood up from the seat that he had been sitting in and moved over next to her. Steve was waiting outside for them, ushered out by Shuri. 

Shuri tapped on the file, which opened, releasing pictures. Some of them were Bucky when he was going through the brain surgery. 

 _Is that what my hair really looks like?_ he thought, quickly combing his fingers through it. 

Shuri ruffled through the pictures until she came to a few taken of a human arm that looked real, but had wires poking out of the shoulder. 

Bucky's mouth fell open. 

"Is...is that..." 

"It's yours if you want it," Shuri said. 

"When? How?" 

"Tomorrow. We'll give you a day of rest before we do it. It'll be pretty easy. You'll be numbed, since the tissue that is connected to your metal arm isn't doing so well, then we'll take your metal arm off and fuse a new one on. It looks and feels like a normal arm. The 'bones' are vibranium, so it's stronger than an average human arm. You'll be given nerves so that you can feel things, although you won't feel extreme pain. It'll work and look like a normal arm, except it's vibranium."

"I take it that's a yes?" Shuri added when she saw Bucky looking in awe at the pictures, swiping on the holographic screen to view them. 

"Is the arm already made?" 

"Yes. When T'Challa told me you had a metal arm, I assumed that you would want a new one, so I made it. If you didn't we would've saved it for another time."

"How much will this cost?" 

Shuri thought for a moment. "Free of charge," she said, smiling. 

"Are you sure?" 

Bucky knew that the real price wouldn't be cheap. His brain surgery had cost about eighty-five thousand dollars, but thanks to insurance Steve didn't have to sell his first born. Bucky had expected the arm surgery to be around four thousand, but for Shuri to give it to him free...

Bucky hugged her hard for the second time that day. 

***

Bucky was ecstatic when he told Steve about his new arm. Steve was happy as well, letting off pleased alpha scents that tingled all throughout Bucky's body. 

They ate lunch in the dining room, then set out to explore Vibranium Labs with Shuri's consent. The place was huge. There were more rooms in the basement, some for conferences, others for extra scientists. The Lab was designed as a square around an enormous, glass, flat-roofed garden with every flower imaginable in it. Bucky and Steve strolled around it in the afternoon, enjoying the warm atmosphere. 

In the middle of the garden was a little area surrounded by a short rock wall. There was a mini waterfall and a swinging bench and strange purple flowers in neat rows all around. Bucky stepped through a gap in the rock wall and bent to observe the flowers. They were vaguely cone-shaped and were such a bright purple. Bucky frowned and sniffed it. The scent it gave off was nothing like other flowers- it smelled like the breeze and the ocean. 

"That is the heart-shaped herb," a voice said. 

Bucky jumped up and whirled around, but it was only T'Challa. 

"Enjoying the Garden of the Panther?" he asked, walking close to them. 

Steve nodded. "What exactly are those?" he asked, pointing to the flowers. 

"The heart-shaped herb. It is native to Wakanda and when the bulb inside is crushed into liquid and drunk, it gives the drinker, the king, the power of the Black Panther."

"So you have the power of the Black Panther?" Bucky asked. "Because you're king?" 

T'Challa nodded, smiling. "How are you feeling, Bucky? Shuri told me that your surgery went well." 

"I'm feeling great!" Bucky said. "And she said that I can go ahead with the arm surgery as well." 

"Congratulations. Well, I'll leave you two alone. Dinner is at six o'clock," he said, walking away. He winked at Steve, who blushed furiously. 

"What's wrong?" Bucky asked him, but Steve only shook his head. 

"Never mind," he said quickly. "What do you want to do now?" 

***

They ended up going to Steve's room and watching some TV. It was shark week on Syfy, which meant watching Sharknado 2, a very badly made yet very enticing movie. Bucky and Steve sat next to each other on Steve's bed, Bucky getting hit with Steve's scent every time he took a breath. 

His nose was so much more sensitive to the scents of individuals now, Bucky wondered if Hydra had been stifling that. He knew that omegas had more enhanced senses than alphas or betas, and he remembered that he had always had a particular strong sense of smell, even for an omega. 

The topic at dinner was mainly about Bucky's surgery. He told his story before Hydra to everyone at the table, managing not to cry. 

 _I feel like I only cry around Steve,_ Bucky thought, glancing across the table to his alpha friend. Shuri had immediately sat down on Bucky's left, and a muscular and attractive alpha on his right, much to Steve disappointment. The alpha had to settle with sitting across from Bucky, glaring at the alpha next to Bucky with every chance he got.

Bucky was extremely tired by the time dinner and dessert (chocolate cake!) was over. He trudged back to his room, his eyelids drooping. 

"See you in the morning?" Steve asked, offering him a soft smile. 

"Yeah," Bucky replied, yawning. 

"G'night Steve." 

"Good night, Bucky."

As soon as Bucky's head hit the pillow, he fell into a dreamless sleep. 

***

The next afternoon, Shuri performed Bucky's arm surgery. She did a quick briefing with him, which made Bucky's stomach churn, then led him to her lab and sat him down on a sterile, white bed. Several scientists surrounded them. Steve was outside, watching through monitors. 

Shuri picked up a needle. "This will numb you," she explained. "So you won't feel a thing." 

"How the  _hell_ will that thing numb me? It's like five feet long!" 

"Okay, it's really not, and trust me, you would rather have this stuck in your arm then go through with this surgery feeling everything." 

She had a point. Bucky turned his face away as she stuck the needle in his right arm, his flesh one. It felt like he was being stung by a bee. Once she pulled the needle away, it only took about two minutes before Bucky's entire body was numbed. He felt like he was floating. 

One of the scientists slipped headphones on him, which were playing soft piano music. The headphones were noise-cancelation, so he couldn't hear anything even if he strained his ears. Shuri also slipped a blindfold over his eyes, which he was thankful for. He didn't want to see the surgery. 

Bucky knew what was happening because of the briefing, of course. They would first used a sterile saw machine to cut as close as they could to his flesh, then use a medical blow torch to get rid of away the dying tissue and the rest of his metal shoulder. They would clean extensively the part of his shoulder that had touched the metal and the wires and apply a special paste that would speed up his healing process so that they could regrow healthy tissue in about thirty minutes. Then, they would cut open his newly healed shoulder and attach the vibranium skeleton to his actual bones. His new arm would go on next, surrounding the skeleton, already filled in with muscle and nerves. The scientists would then fuse his new arm with his shoulder and then use microscopic needles to go in a fuse his new nerves with his old ones. The whole process would take about five hours, which was relatively quick. 

As Bucky listened to the piano music, he could feel himself slipping away, not quite awake, but not quite asleep. Before he knew it, the music stopped and the blindfold was taken off, but he was still numb. 

Bucky wanted to cry. 

Instead of the giant piece of metal that was his left arm, there was now something that looked like a real human arm. All the measurements were correct and it looked like he had actual hair and fingernails. Tears pricked at the corners of Bucky's eyes, then slid down his cheeks, pooling in the corners of his mouth, before running down his chin onto his chest. 

"You should be able to regain mobility in about ten minutes," Shuri said softly. "This will help the pain not to be so intense." 

She held up another needle, thankfully not so large, and slid it into the side of his stomach. Bucky didn't feel a thing. 

He had a real arm now.  _A real arm._

He didn't have to feel like a freak now, especially now that he had gotten his memories back. He could wear short sleeves in public. He felt  _normal._

Bucky slowly started to feel things again. It started in his toes and crawled up to his ears. 

"Try it out," Shuri whispered. 

Bucky wanted the fingers of his left arm to twitch. They did. 

He wanted his left hand to make a fist. It did. 

Before even he knew what was going on, Bucky had thrown his arms around Shuri, and mumbling "Thank you, thank you" over and over again, his face buried in her neck. She gently rubbed his back, smiling even though he couldn't see her face. 

Bucky heard the door slide open and whirled around to see a tall alpha enter the room. 

"Steve! Look!" he shouted, waving vigorously with his left arm. 

Steve grinned broadly, reminding Bucky so much of a happy puppy. Bucky ran over and thew his arms around Steve, hugging the life out of him. 

"Thank you so much," he breathed out. "Thank you for finding me on the road, thank you for bringing me home, thank you for never giving up on me, thank you for kicking Hydra ass, and thank you for this." 

He pulled away, smiling as he reached up and gently touched Steve's cheek with his fingers. The alpha was warm and his skin was soft. Bucky's left arm could feel!

"What does it feel like?" he asked. 

"Like a human arm- flesh and blood," Steve replied, gently holding on to Bucky's wrist. "I'm proud of you." 

Bucky blushed and ducked his head. "Thanks," he whispered. 

He never wanted to leave this moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Another long chapter!  
> Yay Bucky! Yay Steve! Yay Stucky!!!!!!  
> I'm proud of myself- I wrote a long chapter and didn't take 892759423047283472384738472 years to do so.  
> Also, I know nothing about science and surgeries.


	23. Bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm not keeping up with the regular pattern, but I just really wanted to do this chapter from Bucky's perceptive. You'll see why. ;)

The last four days at Vibranium Labs were pretty much the best days of Bucky's life, save for his high school graduation. 

It consisted of a tons of eating, tons of watching tv and movies, tons of him, Steve, and Shuri all hanging out. Shuri showed them all around the Labs and told them stories about Wakanda, her homeland. 

On the fifth day of Bucky and Steve being at the Labs, T'Challa had to leave, and Bucky got to see the extremely high-tech Wakandan plane take off from the back of the Labs. 

Bucky even received cooking lessons from T'Challa's mother, Ramonda, on the sixth day, two days before he and Steve left. She taught him how to make a traditional Wakandan meal- how to cook the lamb to perfection, which different spices made the entire meal mouth-watering. Bucky helped wash and cut up all the vegetables- the purple cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, and red peppers. He watched the meat cook and set the foods out in their separate bowls, jet-black with tiny, purple lines running all along the outside in delicate designs. 

Bucky couldn't help but feel proud at dinner, watching Steve and Shuri eat and listening to their compliments (especially Steve's).  

Bucky could never get the scents of his pups out of his head. Cinnamon, rosemary, fresh linens, and citrus. He knew that his second pup, Madison, had died, but he didn't know about the other three. Bucky created scenes in his head about reuniting with his pups, how happy all of them would be, and then they would go home with Bucky and Steve and live happily ever after...

But of course, real life wasn't like that, Bucky told himself firmly. Oliver, Thalia, and Jessica would be nearly impossible to find, seeing as Hydra never wrote down who they were being sold off to and when. Hydra had been partners with a couple of adoptions agencies who bought pups from them and worked like normal agencies, but would steal the parents' information and sell it to buyers for extreme amounts of money. 

Deep down inside, Bucky knew that he would never see his pups again. 

On the very last night in Vibranium Labs, Bucky couldn't sleep. He wasn't having nightmares or anything, he just couldn't seem to sink into sleep. 

Finally, after about two hours of tossing and turning, he got out of bed and slipped on a pair of socks and his new boots (a gift from Shuri). He grabbed the phone that Steve had gotten him before they went to Vibranium Labs and headed out, careful to step quietly so he wouldn't wake Steve next door.

The phone was nothing special, just an iPhone 6, but Bucky had been ecstatic when he got it. 

"Just for saftey reasons," Steve had said, blushing a little when he handed Bucky it. "Just in case something goes wrong when you're alone." 

"Oh my god, thank you so much, Steve!" Bucky had replied. Steve had just ducked his head and mumbled something like, "It's no problem," and "You needed one anyway." 

Bucky walked slowly around the Labs, finding that his feet were taking him in the direction of the garden that he had visited earlier with Steve. He paused as the doors slid open, allowing him entry. He stepped inside. 

There were tiny, glowing, blue lights lining the pathways between the rows of flowers and plants, giving the garden a rather mysterious glow. There were no lights in the middle, Bucky noted, where the glow from the purple flowers were enough to light the surrounding area. 

Insects were chirping softly and the whole garden just made Bucky feel so much calmer. He suddenly felt tired and wanted to go back to bed. But his feet carried him to the middle of the garden and sat him down on one of the benches. Bucky relaxed, tipping his head back and staring up at the sky through the glass roof. The stars were bright that night. 

Bucky smiled. He felt peaceful, calm. When was the last time he felt like this?

He could hardly believe that he and Steve were going back to New York tomorrow. He felt like he had lived in Oakland his whole life. He was going to miss Shuri so much. But thankfully, he had gotten her number and promise to text a lot. 

"Bucky?" 

Bucky jumped a little as someone walked into the circle of light that the purple flowers made. 

"Oh...hi," he said awkwardly when he realized it was Steve. 

"Couldn't sleep either?" Steve asked, sitting down next the omega. Bucky breathed in deeply. He liked Steve's scent like this, when he hadn't showered or put on scent suppressors. It was strong, but it was comforting and...dare Bucky think it...hot. 

"No," Bucky replied, trying extremely hard not to lean into Steve's warmth. 

"How are you feeling, Buck?" 

"I'm fine. Why?" 

Steve shrugged. "You've just been through a lot," he said. "You know, with Hydra taking you away from your family, wiping your memory, then being kicked out and regaining your memory and your new arm..." He trailed off, gesturing at Bucky's left arm. 

"Ah." Bucky smiled. "I'm okay. Really. But I can't help think...if you weren't there, would I be here right now?" 

Steve glanced away. 

"I mean, thank you. For everything." 

Bucky held his breath, desperately wishing that Steve would turn his face back towards him.  

When Steve finally did, Bucky saw that he was smiling softly. "You're welcome," he murmured. 

They were so close. 

_Is this really going to happen?_

Steve was moving in closer, his eyes not on Bucky's, but looking down a little. 

_I hope this is going to happen._

It was like nothing Bucky had ever felt. 

Bucky had kissed guys before, sure, but there was something different about this one. He felt tiny fireworks exploding where Steve's skin touched his. He felt like he could do anything.

His entire body seemed to let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding. 

Steve's hand reached up and gently touch Bucky's face, cradling his cheek.

_This is how it's supposed to be._

After what seemed like ages, Steve pulled apart, but rested their foreheads together. Bucky didn't realize how much he needed to breathe. 

He suddenly pulled away, standing up quickly. 

Steve looked confused. "Bucky?" 

"Is this real?" he blurted out. 

"Uh...I think so...? Why?"

"Why did you do that?" 

"Because I like you, Buck. And I wanna try this." 

Bucky just stood there, frozen. 

_Steve likes me? Since when?_

After a moment of silence, Steve finally said, "You had to admit, you felt something." 

_I felt an explosion._

"But you shouldn't want to like me. I'm a broken omega." 

"Broken omegas can be healed." 

Bucky shook his head, glancing away. 

"Look, I'm not going to take back what I said when we first met, about you being my true mate. I won't. And I know that if you're my true mate, then that means that I'm yours as well. Please, Bucky. Can we just try this?" 

Bucky wanted to say yes, he did, so badly, but he had had his heart broken so many times. 

...But Steve had stayed this long, hadn't he? Hell, he had fought tons of others for Bucky. 

Bucky studied Steve. The alpha was sitting on the bench, his hands clasped tightly together, looking off into the distance, past Bucky. 

_Why am I just making this so much more difficult?_

Bucky didn't even know he was moving until he and Steve were pressed together, Bucky having yanked Steve to his feet. He pushed their lips together, once again, humming when Steve tilted his head _just right._

Steve winded his arms around Bucky's waist and Bucky didn't pull away. He ran his fingers through Steve's hair (he needed a haircut) and parted his lips, letting Steve's tongue slide into mouth. 

They kissed for what seemed like an eternity before finally breaking apart. 

It was just as good as the first one, if not better. 

"I like you too," Bucky stated. 

Steve chuckled a little. "Do you want to head back?" he asked, and Bucky nodded in response. 

***

They made their way back to their rooms, Steve automatically following Bucky into his. They both collapsed onto Bucky's bed, their fingers so near each other, but not touching. 

After a moment of silence, Steve finally said, "We're going back home tomorrow."

"Hmm." 

"I wanna take you on a date, Bucky." 

Bucky raised an eyebrow, but didn't look at Steve. 

"You wanna take me on a date," he repeated. 

"Yes. A proper date, you know, going out to a nice dinner, making small talk." 

"I could do that." 

Steve rolled over so that he was facing Bucky, his head propped up on his hand. 

"I know that you're not that kind of omega, and you don't have to be that kind of omega. I just want to have a nice night with you." 

Bucky tried to surpress a smile. "We could go to the movies," he suggested. 

"Okay."

Another silent moment. 

Steve's scent was surrounding Bucky, making him feel safe and warm. He tried to breath through his mouth, so it wouldn't be so bad, but that only made it seem worse. 

Bucky didn't even know what he was doing when he rolled over and moved close to Steve. 

"Hmm?" Steve hummed out, staring down at Bucky with a lazy, happy smile on his face. 

Bucky snuggled up to the alpha's broad chest, burying his nose in his neck and scenting him shamelessly. 

The scent of pine invaded his nose, overpowering his brain to function properly. He clung to Steve, throwing a leg over the alpha's, taking in large, gulps of his scent. He was dimly aware of Steve scenting him back, his fingertips running lightly over his back. 

"Damn, you smell so good," Steve murmured. Bucky could only nod. 

Bucky wasn't really awake, he couldn't think properly, as he and Steve finished scenting each other. He was happy, he was calm, he felt  _loved._

He was nodding off when Steve gently placed the covers over him, slipping out of the bed. 

Bucky only knew that the warmth and the scent of the alpha was gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)


	24. Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starker. 
> 
> You have been warned. 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> ;) ;) ;)

To Tony, it seemed like there were two pairs of eyes in his life now. 

The first one was blue, always cold, always judging nowadays. They belong to Pepper. She was still mad at him for what he did one month ago, which honestly, was a good thing. He saved omegas and stopped Hydra. Who wouldn't like that? 

Pepper, apparently. 

The second pair was brown and stared at Tony, wide and amazed, when he retold the story of the fight with Hydra. Peter Parker. 

Tony couldn't ignore the happy pounding in his chest whenever the omega came to his lab. He couldn't stop the stupid smiles that appeared on his face, thankfully, whenever Peter's back was turned. 

Tony had stopped having sex with Pepper now. She basically lived at her own house and barely talked to him, and when she did, it was about work. They were basically exes now. Tony had loved her, once, that was for sure, but then those feelings grew less and less when Peter entered Tony's life. 

It was all Peter's fault, Tony had decided. 

And his. 

But the kid had so much  _potential._ He was so smart and quick. Tony didn't want to ruin that by having a crush on him. 

 _Besides, he's illegal,_ Tony would always think, then remind himself that even though the kid  _looked_ 16, he was actually 21. Omegas generally looked younger than they actually were, save for Bucky. Tony had heard that Steve and Bucky had gotten back from their trip to California via Natasha. Tony was thinking about calling or texting Steve to see how the surgery had went, but he wanted to put it off as long as possible.

Tony and Steve had never really gotten along. They both had different views and clashed heads whenever they talked. The only thing keeping them together was their common friend group. 

"You might want to move your hand a little bit to the right, kid," Tony muttered, directing Peter's movements. 

"Oh, right. Thanks," Peter replied, blushing.

They were working on a design for a new machine that Tony was creating. He wouldn't tell Peter what it was yet, which only made the omega frustrated. Adorably so, but still. 

Tony didn't really think that them touching during work was "flirting," or whatever. Peter needed to be corrected or else he would make a mistake in the design drawings that Tony would then have to fix and it would probably take a long time. 

Tony watched as the omega drew graceful curves away from the center of the drawing. He was really good.  _With his hands, that is._

Tony shook himself, moving away from the tempting omega. Peter's flowery scent was amazing and Tony couldn't wait until after the kid left when he could have a few moments alone to himself in his room, his scent still in his memory. 

Finally, finally, finally, after three and a half hours of hell, their time was up. 

"Good work today," Tony said as he was clearing away all the holograms that showed the design. 

"Thanks, Mr. Stark!" Peter replied, smiling widely. He responded  _so well_ to compliments. 

"See you tomorrow?" Tony asked, turning around to get one more glance at the young omega. 

"Sure thing. Bye." 

Tony smirked to himself as he heard the outside door shut. He could now have a few moments alone to himself, to jerk off to the image of...

His phone was ringing. Frowning, Tony checked it. It was Pepper. 

"Dammit," he muttered, but accepted the call. Pepper rarely talked to him anymore, so it must be important. 

"Tony, hey," Pepper said. It sounded like she was in her car, driving. "I'm coming over. We need to talk." 

"Pepper, wait. This may not be the best-" 

But she had already hung up. 

***

Pepper was seriously pissed. As in, she was stalking around Tony's living room, letting out sighs of frustration every now and then, as Tony sat on the back of the couch, not daring to speak. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Pepper finally paused and turned, staring at Tony. 

"This isn't working out," she said. 

Silence. 

"What isn't working out?"

"This." She gestured between them. "Jesus, Tony. What do you think? We're basically avoiding each other. We always kind of have."

"I liked you," Tony offered. 

"Liked. Past tense. I don't know why, but you're just not interested in me anymore." 

More silence. 

"Jesus Christ. And you're not even hiding it. I suppose it was always cliché, you falling in love with me, your personal assistant, and it was never supposed to last. I should've seen the signs early." 

"Let's be clear here, it was  _you_ who started to be distant first."

Pepper sighed dramatically. "If you're just doing this for the public-" 

"I'm not just doing this for the public! Where the hell did you get that idea?" 

"C'mon, Tony. All those interviews with the journalists? You would talk about me so much, I knew that it wasn't just because you truly loved me, because you didn't. You knew it would get you fame. 'Player alpha Tony Stark falls for strong, independent, omega PA Pepper Potts.' Pretty much all the headlines when you first announced our relationship, which I did not give my consent for, by the way. People loved your story, so people loved you, so people bought your crap. You had it all figured out, didn't you?" 

_Somewhat._

Tony wasn't going to lie- he kind of did over exaggerate he and Pepper's relationship to give the public a story, but at first, he was just sharing exciting news. And she had never said not to tell the public directly- Tony had asked Pepper about it, and she had said, "Oh...I don't know...It will cause a big commotion, won't it?" She had never directly said no, but she had never directly said yes, either. To Tony, that just spelled out, "Go for it." 

After more rounds of yelling, more rounds of "It-was-all-your-fault-because-you-can't-read-my-mind"s from Pepper, Tony finally called it a night. 

"I'm tired," he snapped. "I'm going to bed." 

Pepper crossed her arms and sighed, again. As he was walking away, out of the room, she finally spoke up. 

"It's your new intern, isn't it?" 

Tony froze. 

"That young omega. It's him, isn't it, who's making us fight." 

 

"It's not his fault." 

"You're not denying it." 

"Goodnight, Pepper." 

***

"Are you okay, Mr. Stark? You've been quiet all day." 

The thing with Pepper was that if Tony had been quiet around her, she would've thought that he was planning something stupid and accuse him of it. Peter was actually concerned. 

"No, I'm alright, Peter." 

"Are you sure?" 

The omega's face scrunched up into confusions, and Tony tried his hardest not to grab him right then and there. 

"Yup, just focus on your work, please." 

Peter quickly turned back to the holographic projection and continued to draw the design. 

Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair, flipping through a few printed out papers of the designs. Two were his own, the other one was Peter's. He had to admit, Peter was way better at designing things than Tony was at his age. The omega's brain worked pretty much the same way when it came to designing things. 

Tony loved it. 

He watched Peter's back move as he moved his arms and shifted his weight, the tight material of his too-small sweater clinging to his torso. The kid wasn't soft, like most omegas. He showed signs of regular physical activity, probably running, or going to the gym, that gave him lean muscles and a  _very_ attractive body. 

He wanted to hold Peter. 

"Mr. Stark, does this look right to you?" 

Tony shook his head and stood up, walking over next to Peter to gaze at his design. 

"Let me see," he said, taking the drawing pen from him. He turned the holographic image around, checking it from all angles. 

"Pretty much, except that this..." He grabbed a piece of the outer layer near the top with the pen and moved it down to the left side. "...Should be here." 

"Oh, oops. Thanks." 

"That's alright. It wasn't so bad." 

They were so close. Peter's scent was suffocating Tony, but in a good way. 

"How 'bout we take a break?" Tony asked. "Go out, grab some lunch somewhere." 

Peter's eyes grew wide. "Really?" 

Tony nodded. "Yeah. You look like you could use a break." 

That was true. The kid's shoulders were slumping and he looked mentally exhausted. 

"That would be great, thank you!" Peter said, grinning. 

Tony shrugged. "No big deal," he replied, putting the designs away and following Peter upstairs. 

Just as they were passing into the living room, Tony couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Peter's arm and whirled him around, causing Peter to let out a little startled yelp. 

"Mr. Stark?"

"Seriously, kid. Call me Tony." 

"R-really?" 

"I want you to think of this lunch as a little test date. If I doesn't go well, we don't have to do it again. If it  _does_ go fine, well..." Tony smiled, hoping that he didn't look so creepy. 

Peter's face turned slightly pink. "A date?" 

"Yep, a date. You see, there's this omega who I work with and he makes my days so much better, he makes me smile and laugh, and he smells like freaking _heaven_ to me, so I couldn't resist asking him out. It would be my greatest pleasure if he would say yes. I am, after all, Tony Stark. It would be hard to say no to this."

Peter was quiet for a moment, thinking, before he finally said, "The omega says yes, by the way, but he just wants a quiet date without anybody realizing that he's dating  _Tony Stark._ "

"That can be arranged." 

_I don't want to make that mistake a second time._

"Let me take you on a date then, Mr. Parker." 

Peter smiled. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)
> 
> ;)
> 
> ;) 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I apologize for the crappy writing, but I have no clue how to make people fight and confess their love to each other.


	25. Bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like Stucky is finally moving along. ;)

(Finally put up a picture of Steve's house) 

 

 

**April 2018**

Rain. 

That was the one thing Bucky hated about April. 

It was constantly raining, all the time. 

"God dammit, not again," he mumbled when he pulled back the curtains of his bedroom, only to find the sky a dreary gray and the clouds pouring water down on everything. 

It had been a few days since Steve and Bucky had arrived back from Vibranium Labs, and Bucky was still getting used to the fact that he and Steve were a "thing"- the random kisses before Steve left for work and after he came home, the flirty moments that left Bucky blushing like a teenage virgin, the late nights where they would sit in front of the TV and watch random shows while glancing out of the corners of their eyes at each other. 

Bucky loved all of it. 

He yawned widely and rubbed a hand on his neck. He shuffled out into the hallway, thanking God that it was a lazy Saturday. Neither he nor Steve had any plans that day. Well, rather, he never had any plans in general, he had just recovered from living for four years as a slave, after all, and Steve had recently taken to hanging with him rather than his other friends. 

And speaking of the alpha, he was in the kitchen, wearing a too-tight-to-be-legal t-shirt and a pair of joggers as he moved around, making eggs on the stove. 

Bucky leaned up against the archway, smirking and watching his  _boyfriend._ Steve was a hot piece of ass, Bucky wasn't going to deny it, and he wasn't going to deny either that while they were sharing a few innocent kisses, Bucky couldn't help but want things to go further. But of course, he knew that he wasn't ready physically. His insides were still healing from the effects of being raped, forced to carry pups, and miscarrying. 

Bucky knew that he should probably find an omega doctor to see if he was still fertile after his last pup and when his next heat would be. 

The trouble was just telling Steve. The alpha would most certainly demand that he would be going with Bucky, making an awkward visit, and of course blush and stammer like an idiot whenever the doctor would say the words "womb" or "heat."

Bucky watched as Steve started humming along to some song in his head, then starting to sing out loud. Steve didn't have a bad voice. He wasn't going to win American Idol, but he didn't sound like a screechy cat, either. 

Bucky smiled to himself as Steve tried and failed to hit a high note on a song he didn't know.

Steve turned around then, and looked surprised to find Bucky standing there. 

"I didn't think you'd be awake," he said.

Bucky shrugged. "The rain woke me up," he replied. It did. "Whatcha making?" he asked, moving into the kitchen and following Steve over to the stove. 

"Omelets," the alpha said proudly, displaying Bucky his masterpiece. 

"They look and smell very good." 

"I'm glad you think so," Steve hummed, turning his face so that his lips brushed Bucky's. Bucky couldn't help grinning and muttered against the other's lips, "Well, my opinion is the most important." 

He gave Steve the softest kiss ever, then pulled away and moved to get two dishes and glasses out of the cabinets. 

"Screw you," Steve said, chuckling a little, and he turned the stove top off. 

"You can get your real kiss after you've brushed your teeth," Bucky replied. He grabbed the carton of orange juice from the fridge and poured some into both glasses. 

Steve served the omelets on the plates, and brought them over to the table. 

"Wanda called earlier this morning, by the way," Steve said once they were about half way through with breakfast. 

"What for?" Bucky asked, his mouth full of egg and cheese. 

"She wanted to know if you and I would want to join her and Victor at some fancy restaurant." 

"What'd you say?" 

"I said yes, of course. It'll be fun."

 Bucky frowned and playfully punched Steve in the shoulder. He was honestly a little pissed at Steve- the fact that the alpha just said yes automatically, but Bucky also didn't know Wanda and Victor all that well. "Without asking me first?" 

Steve chuckled, rubbing his shoulder. "I thought it would be good for you. You know- it'll get you of the house." 

Bucky couldn't argue with that. 

***

The place that Steve picked for them was some fancy restaurant where you're expected to eat daintily, sip your wine with your pinky out, and talk about politics and what the celebrities are "up to" in quiet, hushed voices. 

Defiantly not Bucky's kind of place. 

But whatever, at least he got to see Steve in a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. 

Bucky's had gotten more used to appreciating Steve's looks since they had gotten together. Even though they had yet to go on their first date, they still called each other their  _boyfriend._

Wanda and Victor look amazing, as well. 

Wanda wore a mid-arm, lacy, red dress that came down past her knees. It was modest, yet still looked stunning on the 7-month pregnant with twins beta. Victor was wearing a casual suit, the top button popped open, his blonde hair styled with gel. 

Bucky couldn't help but think how much he looked like a 20-something hipster, when in reality, the alpha was bordering on his 40s. 

Bucky didn't like Victor at all. There was just something about him that made Bucky not trust him. Maybe it was the way he talked; he spoke fine to Steve, but whenever Wanda would join in on their conversations, he would always sigh and look annoyed. And he never spoke to Bucky directly. 

Wanda and Victor were there first, with Bucky and Steve running late because Bucky couldn't decide on a shirt. 

In the end, he showed up wearing a pair of gray skinny jeans which he insisted to Steve that he would  _never wear_ , and a plain, off-red t-shirt that looked casual but not messy. 

Wanda smiled at Bucky, who found himself enjoying her comforting scent. He had always been a little stressed with meeting new people, and that mild fear had only increased after Hydra. 

"Hi, Bucky," she said once he had sat down. "We haven't formally met yet. I'm Wanda." 

"It's nice to meet you," he said, taking her outstretched hand. Next to him, Steve shook hands with Victor. 

"How're you feeling, Wanda?" Steve asked once they had ordered. 

"Oh, you know, the usual," she replied, her hand gently caressing her stomach. 

"When's your due date?" Bucky asked. 

"Junes 12th. It's coming up soon, and honestly, I'm a little nervous. They're my first, and  _of course_ they have to be twins. I'm just worried that I'll-" 

"Let's not gross everyone out with your pregnancy stories, alright, Wanda?" Victor cut in, giving his mate a strange smile. 

Wanda huffed and glanced away. 

Steve laughed, thinking that it was just a joke. 

"Are you okay?" Bucky asked Wanda gently. She sighed and nodded. 

"He's been like this ever since I got pregnant." 

"Sorry for asking, but like what, exactly?" 

"Treating me more and more like a house wife. I had to stop working at 5 months, and he started to act like I was an omega, not a beta." 

_Like an omega, not a beta._

Bucky knew that she didn't mean it, but still, her words stung. 

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Bucky managed a smile. "It's okay," he replied. "I know, it happens sometimes." 

"So, how're things with him," Wand said, changing the subject, and pointing her thumb at Steve. 

"Fine," Bucky said, nonchalantly. On the inside, of course, we was freaking out like a middle school girl. It was stupid, really, how whenever 

 "Have you two gone on a date yet?" 

"Not really. We've talked about it, though. We've just been hanging out a lot, you know." 

Wanda winked at him. "Making out?" she said, her voice lowered. 

"Oh my god, Wanda, I swear to God..."

"You'll do what?" Wanda teased. "I'm pregnant with twins there isn't anything that you can do to me." 

Bucky chuckled. 

The rest of the night progressed calmly, with Steve and Victor talking with each other, and Bucky and Wanda talking. Bucky had to admit, it was pretty fun, talking with Wanda, she was interesting and nice and understood him. Although, he did miss talking with Steve after a while, but that seemed to have been made up once they got home. 

Bucky had been yawning and talking about how he was going to sleep now, when Steve grabbed his hand and pulled him towards his body, spinning Bucky around. 

The alpha kissed him, hard, their lips moving against each other in sync, like they'd done it a million times before. Bucky's hand found its way up to the back of Steve's neck as the other cupped Bucky's face in his hands. 

They kissed until Bucky pulled away to get a breath of air into his lungs. He breathed in Steve's amazing pine scent and smirked. 

"What was that for?"

"What? I can't kiss my boyfriend?" 

"You have to have a good reason to." 

Steve shrugged, looking like a hot idiot with the way he was smiling. "He smells really freaking nice right now?" he tried. 

Bucky made a face. "I do? I haven't showered in two days." 

"All the better. The soap you use covers up your natural scent. It makes you smell like fake vanilla rather than your real scent." 

"And what's that?" 

"Tea and honey. It's so damn good, Bucky," Steve replied, and Bucky had the sense that Steve was so close to moaning. He could feel his body heating up, and he swallowed hard, trying to distract himself. 

Steve breathed in deeply, his eyes sliding shut, and Bucky couldn't resist doing the same. They just stood there for a while, just breathing in each other's scents, until Bucky decided to ruin the moment. 

"But seriously, bloodhound, I need to go to sleep. I'm tired." 

With one last kiss, Bucky was on his way up the stairs. 

"Hey, Buck?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Are you free on Wednesday?" 

Bucky laughed. "Steve, I'm unemployed. Of course I'm goddamn free. Why?" 

"I was wondering..." the alpha trailed off, looking sheepishly as he rubbed his neck. "Would you want to go to the movies with me then? I know I promised you a date to the movies back in the Labs, and we haven't even gone on our first date yet." 

Bucky leaned up against the wall. "Depends on what kind of movie." 

"A Quiet Place? I've heard it's pretty good." 

"Sounds good to me," Bucky said, smiling. "It's a date, then." 

"Okay, awesome! I'll go buy the tickets now, I think eight is a good time..." 

Bucky shook his head as the alpha walked away, looking so happy and proud with himself. How the hell did Bucky get so lucky to land such a good boyfriend?

***

 Wednesday couldn't have come slow enough. Bucky had practically been restless around the house between Sunday morning and the day of their date. He had cleaned something practically every day, wether it be his bathroom, or Steve's office, or the living room. He took long walks around Steve's neighborhood, trying to make the clocks go faster.

Then finally, finally,  _finally,_ it was Wednesday. 

Eight o'clock couldn't have come slow enough. Steve had gotten home at seven, leaving him about forty-five minutes to get ready for their date. And so he did. Extensively. 

Bucky tried to hold back his laughter when Steve took a twenty minute shower, singing old forties music loudly. He heard the sound of Steve's electric razor going, and then shortly after it started, a yelp and a loud swear, then things banging and clattering around. 

But Bucky couldn't judge. He had taken an even longer shower, conditioning his hair twice and scrubbing his skin with his soap. Even though he knew Steve didn't like it, he didn't want to be smelling gross for their first date. 

He dried his hair with the blow dryer that Steve had bought for him and brushed it out until it was soft like silk. Ever since he had gotten his memory back and could remember the days when he had short hair, he had been contemplating getting a hair cut. But then, as he studied himself in the mirror and ran his fingers through his hair, he realized he didn't mind the length. He had to admit, it looked good on him. 

Bucky wrapped a towel around his waist and left the bathroom, shivering slightly from the temperature difference between the steamy bathroom and the cool hallway. 

In his bedroom, he grabbed a hair elastic that Wanda had given him after their dinner on Saturday. 

"Try tying your hair back into a man bun. They're all the rage today," she had said. 

"God, no. What the hell, Wanda?" he had replied, pushing the hair tie back at her and laughing. 

"No, I'm serious! I think you'd look hot." 

He had rolled his eyes, but had taken it anyway to humor her. And now, here he was, thinking about actually putting it in his hair. 

He slid the tie on his wrist and grabbed his hair, pulling it back to the base of his neck. He pulled it through the tie, then made a loop with the extra bit of tie and pulled his hair half way through it. A few strands fell out around his forehead. Bucky turned his head to different angles, but he couldn't detect anything wrong with it. 

He smiled. Wanda was right. 

He pulled on a pair of jeans and his favorite red Henley shirt before he was finally ready to go. 

***

The movie theatre was crowded and overstimulated Bucky's senses. He found himself wrinkling his nose as soon as he stepped inside at the different smells of people, particularly alphas. 

Bucky had always found most alphas' scents to be disgusting. They mostly smelled like burning rubber or gasoline to him. Few alphas smelled normal or fine, and only one smelled really good. 

Bucky had a feeling that most omegas didn't have peculiar senses like he did. He had had one omega friend before Hydra who slept around a lot and when Bucky asked her what other alphas smelled like to her, she had just shrugged and responded with "Like alphas." 

They were running a little bit late because Steve took  _so damn long_ , and Bucky just wanted to head into their theatre and find their seats. Steve, of course, dragged Bucky over to food line to get popcorn and soda (which Bucky was thankful for for the rest of the movie but would never admit it). 

When Steve and Bucky finally made it to their seats, the movie had just started, but they thankfully didn't miss too much. 

Bucky had the unfortunate experience of having to sit next to an alpha with a repugnant smell- almost like mud. He was unshaven and bald, and looked like he had slept in his clothes. Bucky flipped up the arm rest between he and Steve and moved over until their thighs were squashed up against each other. 

Steve draped an arm around his shoulders, a simple gesture, but Bucky could smell Steve's discomfort. 

"Jesus, Steve, I'm fine," he muttered out, and was pleased to feel the alpha's shoulder relax underneath him. 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, he's not even bothering me. Freakin' relax." 

The movie was really good. It was entertaining to see Steve jump at the littlest things. 

The first time he did it, Bucky thought that he was having a seizure or something.

"Jesus," the alpha whispered hoarsely. "Didn't that scare you?" 

Bucky tried and failed to hide his smile. "No." 

Steve mouthed a swear and turned back to the screen cautiously, waiting for the next jump scare. 

About half way through the movie, Steve had to use the bathroom as a result of him draining his large coke, leaving Bucky with the popcorn and the weird alpha. He could feel the stranger's eyes on him and he clenched his jaw. 

He  _was not_ just a pretty thing to look at. 

Right when the kids were drowning in the corn, Bucky finally snapped. 

"Is there a problem?" he hissed, glancing over at the alpha, who had been shamelessly staring at him. 

The alpha smirked and stared up and down Bucky's body. "None that I can think of, omega," he oozed. 

"Call me that again and I'll beat you to hell." 

Thankfully, Steve came back just then, shooting a suspicious look at the other alpha and sitting back down next to Bucky, making sure to make a point out of draping his hand over Bucky's shoulders. 

Bucky exhaled heavily and brought his feet up to rest on his seat, his knees curled up to his chest. 

***

"Was that guy doin' anything to you while I was in the bathroom?" Steve asked once they were driving home. 

Bucky shook his head. "He was just staring at me, so I asked him what his problem was and he just said 'None that I can think of, omega.'" 

Steve nodded, but Bucky could tell that he was still pissed. 

After a moment of silence, Steve said, "That was one pretty sucky first date. I'm sorry, Bucky." 

He managed to crack a smile. "That's okay. The movie was good, though." 

Steve laughed. "Yeah, it was." 

"Even though it scares big, tough guys like you." 

"Shut up," Steve said, chuckling. "You have to admit, it was pretty scary." 

Bucky shrugged. "Whatever you say." 

"Bucky, I'm serious. I'm really sorry about how tonight went." 

"Wasn't your fault. And anyway, it wasn't too bad. He didn't touch me or anything." 

"You were grumpy for the rest of the movie. And anyway, it didn't matter if he touched you or anything." 

They fell into an awkward silence.

"I'll take you on a proper one soon," Steve said after a while. "Like to a nice dinner or a park or something. Somewhere where it's just the two of us." 

Bucky grinned. "That'd be nice." 

"Cool. ...Hey Buck?" 

"Yeah?" 

"I was wondering... do you like New York City?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, I mean, do you ever want to go somewhere less crowded, you know, somewhere that's not a city?" 

" 'Not a city?' You're a dork, Steve. Sure, I'd love to get out of the city. Too many smells and people, you know? Like, for a vacation or something?" 

Steve shrugged. "Sure, I guess." 

Bucky nodded, not knowing what else to say, and glanced out the window. Even though he knew that Steve was trying to cover it up, he still heard the alpha's sigh. Bucky couldn't help but feel bad. It was technically  _his_ fault that their date night was ruined- he didn't have to be so uptight about the alpha. People were just like that, and he should start to get used to it. He stared at Steve's reflection in the window of the car. 

_I'll make it up to him next time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another relatively long chapter and the beginning of a friendship between Wanda and Bucky... *sighs* fanfiction truly is beautiful.  
> What do you think Steve meant when he asked Bucky if he ever wants to go somewhere else?? ;)
> 
> Also, A Quiet Place is a really good movie. Ya'll should go and watch it.


	26. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourself.  
> Yayayayaya!! More pictures!!!1

(Also finally put up the cover ;)

 

 

After one hell of a first date, Steve got the opportunity to take Bucky on a second one. It took him nearly a week to prepare, but he made damn sure that it would be the best date Bucky had ever been on. 

He couldn't have been more proud. He had taken Bucky to a small, family-run Italian restaurant that he had been wanting to check out for a long time. They had eaten outside, underneath a canopy of soft, mood lighting with the starry night sky just above. The weather was nice, and Bucky looked (and smelled) even nicer. 

Steve couldn't honestly believe that Bucky and he were together. He felt like this was some dream and he would wake up shortly only to find out that Bucky had never ever walked into his life. 

He couldn't believe even more that the omega liked him back- he had been so angry and annoyed with Steve the first time that they had met. But now that they were together, Steve could see that Bucky was smiling more, and he smelled happier and content most of the time. 

"Jesus, Steve, this place is freakin' fancy," Bucky had said when their hostess led them to their seats. Steve had just grinned. 

"I'm glad you like it," he had said. 

"Goddamn," Bucky had murmured when when the waiter had given them their menus. "Quality Italian food right here, punk."

"Punk?" Steve had asked, unable to hid his grin. 

"Yeah. You're a damn punk." 

"I guess that makes you a jerk." 

Bucky had only rolled his eyes and stared out into the distance, but Steve couldn't ignore the  _happy_ scents rolling off Bucky. It had only made Steve's pride grow knowing that he was the one who made Bucky feel like this. 

"Damn, this is just like my Nonna's cooking," Bucky had commented when their food had arrived. 

"I thought your grandmother was Romanian?" Steve had said, frowning. 

"This is my dad's mom. My mom's mom was Romanian."

"Wow. So you're Italian  _and_ Romanian."

"With a little bit of Russian thrown in there," Bucky had replied, cocking his head to the side and smirking. "My dad's dad."

"I'm just plain old American," Steve had said. 

"Jesus, Steve, you could be America personified." Bucky had speared arancini with his fork and bit into it, moaning. " _Damn,_ this is good."

_Dammit._

Steve swallowed hard and shifted around in his seat a little. 

_Not a good time._

Steve wasn't going to lie that he found Bucky sexy. He was, as hell. But Steve knew that Bucky wasn't ready to take their dating to the next level. Even though they had never talked about it, Steve had just always known that Bucky wasn't ready yet. He had always pulled away from kissing before it got too out of hand and had never  _acted_ like he wanted to- none of the typical omega hints. But then again, Bucky wasn't a typical omega. 

Steve had figured that Bucky would've wanted to go into a heat first, if he still could, after what happened with Hydra. He just hoped that he could resist the omega until he was ready. 

After their amazing date, Steve had rented the movie Wonder, which he had thought was a damn good book and would probably make a damn good movie. He was right. He and Bucky had snuggled up on the couch, pressed up against each other and under the same blanket, Bucky's scent rolling over Steve like a warm breeze. 

And if Steve had cried during the movie, Bucky knew that he would never have to bring it up again. 

***

**May 2018**

Steve could tell that Bucky was getting restless staying at home while Steve went to work. He had considered asking Bucky if he wanted a job, but then he thought about what working as an omega in a public place in New York City would look like, and he refigured. 

Steve had a feeling that if he and Bucky were going to be together for a long time, they wouldn't stay in New York. So, behind Bucky's back, of course, he started looking at different places to live. He stayed up late and tore through the internet, looking at the most safest states and towns to live in. 

Even though both he and Bucky had grown up in New York, Steve didn't want to stay in the state and he had a feeling that Bucky didn't, either. 

The trouble was, all of Steve's friends lived in New York, so he didn't want to go very far. And he didn't want to live in a place that was too hot or too cold. Whatever, call him picky. 

It took him a few days before he finally found what he thought was the perfect place- Pennsylvania. 

It was only just one state away from New York City, it was ranked number twenty-eight for the safest state, the weather was similar to New York's, and it was away from the huge crowds of people and dirty sidewalks of where they lived now. 

Pennsylvania was beautiful. Especially in Lancaster County, where Steve found himself looking the most. The idea of living on a large piece of land, in a big farmhouse, with amish neighbors and small, close-knit town intrigued him. 

After a week of researching, Steve had to mentally punch himself. 

He had been looking at all of this without Bucky's opinion. How was he supposed to know if Bucky wanted to live on a farm or in the city? Hell, what if Bucky wanted to move to Romania or Italy to be with his distant family? How was Steve supposed to know if Bucky was as ready to settle down as he was? 

He had decided to just put the Pennsylvania idea on pause until he could talk to Bucky about it. 

But of course, just because he had shoved away one idea for now, didn't mean that his brain was at rest. 

Next, he found himself thinking about Bucky's family- about his sister and parents who had died in the train crash. 

One night, Steve stayed up late in his room, staring at a new Chrome tab. He found himself typing in "james barnes train." 

An article came up, first try, of the train crash that had caused Bucky to be kidnapped by Hydra. He clicked on it. It was a Romanian news article, but thankfully he was able to Google translate the whole page. 

He skimmed it, passing the description of the event and getting to the deceased list. 

_Albu, Mary-Anne_

_Barnes, George_

_Barnes, Rebecca_

_Barnes, Winnifred_

_Dumitru, Cristian_

Steve blinked. Bucky wasn't on the list of deceased. How was that possible? Hydra had dragged him away before anybody else could've gotten to the scene, so they would've found no body and assumed that he had perished in the crash. 

Unless, of course, nobody had known that Bucky had gotten on the train...

Steve found himself staring at the names of Bucky's parents. 

_George and Winifred Barnes._

***

It was the last week of April when Steve finally made up his mind. He knew, that not matter how much it would pain him, Bucky wanted to find where the rest of his family lay. Steve had the address of the graveyard, it wasn't too far away, in Brooklyn, where they had raised their two children. 

When Steve finally asked Bucky if he wanted to visit his parents, Bucky just stared at him for a long time. 

"They're dead, Steve," he said after a while. 

Steve took a cautious step forward. This was like walking on thin ice. "I know that, Buck. I meant their tombstones." 

_Jesus, did I have to say it like that?_

"Oh...How'd you find the place?" 

Steve shrugged. "I searched online." 

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Of course you did," he muttered. 

"Look, I understand if you don't want to and I didn't mean to hurt you by it, I was just curious myself so I found their graveyard online and I was just wondering if you wanted to visit them, 'cause you know, they're your family and I'm sorry for butting in on your personal and life and I you want-" 

Bucky cut Steve off by placing a hand over his mouth. 

"Oh my god, Steve, stop rambling." 

Steve studied Bucky's face for any annoyance, but it was completely neutral. 

"...Sure. I'll go and see their graves. If it's the only way I'll be able to see them again..."

***

It was raining, how appropriate, when Steve drove Bucky to Brooklyn to see the Barnes's family grave. They had to find it first, of course, amongst the thousands of other graves in various states of destruction. 

After about an hour, they still haven't found the grave. 

"We should just go home," Bucky grumbled, looking pissed beneath his giant rain jacket. 

"Just a little longer," Steve pressed, wanting to show to Bucky that he could do nice things for him.

Bucky grumbled something inaudible and walked slowly around a couple more graves. It was obvious he had given up hope. Steve didn't, of course. He took it as a good sign when it  _finally_ stopped raining and the sun peeked through the clouds a little bit. 

There was a small incline near the back of the massive graveyard that caught Steve's eyes. It was shady and cool, with a willow tree at the top of the hill and a rained-soaked bench underneath it. He made his way up the small hill, with Bucky trailing behind, and peered and the several graves there. 

Most of the graves were old and covered with moss and spiderwebs. The majority of the people there had died around the seventeenth century. However, a group of graves caught Steve's eye. 

They were small and modest and looked rathe new. As Steve walked around them to see what the names were, he couldn't hold back his gasp. 

"Bucky!" he called to the omega who was still making his way, slowly, up the hill. He glanced up and raised an eyebrow. Steve gestured with his hand. 

"C'mere!" 

 _George Barnes, loving father, husband, brother, and son. 1966-2013_ the first gravestone read. The second one, right next to it, said  _Winifred Barnes, caring and devoted mother, wife, and daughter. 1966-2013._

The last one was the smallest, and had a delicate wave design carved into the top.  _Rebecca Barnes, sister, daughter, friend. Gone too soon. 1997-2013._

When Bucky had seen his family's graves, he immediately started tearing up. He swore softly, wiping at his eyes. Steve reached out to gently touch his arm, but the omega moved away. 

"Just...give me a moment." 

Steve nodded and stepped away, sitting down on the soaked bench to give the omega some room. He saw him squat down by the graves and start to whisper to them. Steve couldn't even hear what he'd said, but he could tell that Bucky was crying heavily and quietly, his shoulders shaking. He kept wiping his face. 

After a few moments, Bucky stood up and walked over to sit down next to Steve. The alpha put his arm around him cautiously. He half expected Bucky to shove him off, but instead he leaned into Steve, breathing heavily. His eyes were red. 

"They're all...they're all..." Bucky stuttered, and he didn't need to say anything else. 

Steve pressed a kiss to his hair, gently rubbing his arm. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Steve said, "How about we go home now?' 

Bucky nodded and he and Steve stood up, Steve's arm still wrapped around Bucky's shoulders.

***

The car ride home was nearly silent, the only sound being the classical station on the radio turned down low. As soon they got home, Bucky retreated to his room and shut the door. Steve debated wether he should try and talk to Bucky, but then decided better not to. He didn't want to make the omega angry or even more sad. 

Steve sat down in the living room, running a hand through his hair. 

_Bucky had lost everything...He had literally no family left..._

_Well, almost everything._

Steve's head shot up. He scrambled to grab his phone on the coffee table and quickly dialed a number. 

"How's it going, Rogers?"

"Remember when I found Hydra?" 

"What? Of course I damn do. What is it?" 

"I'd like to have my reward now."

Fury chuckled. "What do you want, Rogers?" 

Steve's heart hammered in his chest. He could only pray that this would work out.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;) ;)  
> What do you think Steve is calling Fury about?


	27. Bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little reference: the story starts in the beginning of January and now it's the very end of May.
> 
> HOOoo boy this is a long chapter.

Bucky could hardly believe that it was the end of May already. The air was warming up, thankfully, in the fifties to sixties most days. Bucky had Steve drive him to a garden center so he could buy different brightly-colored flowers and plant then all around the mulch in Steve's front yard because honestly, the plants that were already there were so boring and dark. 

It took Bucky nearly an hour and a half to plant everything, but he was very damn proud of himself once he had finished. He had done it when Steve was away at work, and couldn't wait to show his  _boyfriend_ when he came home. 

Bucky pushed a stray piece of hair that had fallen out of his bun out of his face. A slight breeze picked up, blowing at his back, so he turned around to face it. The wind brought along the sweet smell of late spring, which made Bucky smile. 

Spring was always his favorite season. It was so warm and everything was so alive...unlike winter, where everything died. It was his favorite season especially now, because it brought with it the promise of new beginnings and a new life. 

Bucky watched as an old couple walked on the sidewalk close to the house. Their arms were linked together, and they looked like they were talking to each other, smiling broadly and gesturing around themselves. 

The old woman, leaning on a cane and her mate's arm, noticed Bucky and smiled at him, waving. Bucky returned the gestures, happy to  _finally_ see someone in Steve's neighborhood. 

The neighborhood was filled mostly with young, single adults who didn't have children and were too busy with their well-paying jobs to ever talk to each other. Steve had told Bucky countless times in the past weeks that he didn't like his neighborhood and would want to move to a different one some time. 

Just then, Steve pulled in the driveway. The alpha rolled his window down as he passed Bucky, grinning. 

"The flowers look amazing, Bucky!" he said. "I didn't know you were planting them today."

"Surprise," Bucky replied, walking over to Steve's car and resting up against the side. 

Steve smirked and leaned in, giving Bucky a soft kiss on the lips. 

"I have a surprise, too," he said. "Come inside and I'll tell you what it is." 

As Steve's car rolled into the garage, Bucky pulled off his gardening gloves and gathered his tools, quickly shoving them into Steve's small shed on the side of his house. Bucky walked through the front door, toeing off his shoes and spying Steve in the kitchen. He padded softly up to the alpha, who had his back turned to him, and wrapped his arms around his waist. Steve chuckled and gently rested his hands on top of Bucky's. 

Bucky inhaled his boyfriend's scent, sighing happily. 

"What was that surprise?" he murmured against the alpha's broad back. 

"Wanda had her pups earlier this morning."

Bucky pulled away. "Wait, really?" 

"Yeah." 

"Oh my god! This is so exciting! Can we go visit them sometime?" 

"Victor says we can tomorrow morning. He says that Wanda needs some time to relax." 

For some reason, annoyance struck through Bucky when Steve mentioned the other alpha's name. 

_I bet he just wants her to stay away from her friends as much as possible..._

"You okay, Buck?"

"Er, yeah. Sorry. Did he say what the names were?" 

"Thomas and William. Two really strong male pups. Victor thinks they'll both be alphas." 

"That's good," Bucky said, smiling. Steve nodded in response.

Bucky moved around the alpha to the sink, to wash the dirt off his hands and in between his fingernails. As the water was running, he heard Steve begin to say, "So...I've started looking at some houses..."

Bucky shut off the water and turned around, grabbing a towel to dry his hands with. 

"So we're actually moving?" he questioned. 

Steve bit his lip, looking nervous. "Well, I want to. I mean, it's totally okay if you don't want to. We can stay here, in New York City. I know that Wanda lives here, and you two seem very close, and I mean, it's not like it's super expensive to live here, with my job and all, and I-"

"Steve," Bucky cut him off. "I kinda want to move too." 

The alpha perked up. "You do?" 

"Yeah. I mean, New York is great and all, but I really don't like this neighborhood and I've always wanted to live somewhere out in the country, I've always thought that would be cool." 

"Well, I've been looking at some places in Pennsylvania that I thought you might like. Clint Barton, I think I've told you about him one or two times, well he lives in Pennsylvania with his mate and their kids, and from what he says, it's like one of the best places to live." 

Bucky tilted his head. "What area of Pennsylvania?" he asked.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish. "Kinda like the Lancaster County area." 

"Like where all the Amish people are?" 

"Yeah. I've heard it's really homey and everyone's so nice and kind..."

"Do you have any of the houses on your computer?" 

Steve grinned. 

***

Steve insisted that they ate dinner first,  _of course,_ before they could look at the houses he had picked out. When Bucky was putting away the dishes, Steve decided to go upstairs and change, much to Bucky's dislike. He couldn't help but feel sorry for hating the idea when Steve came back downstairs in baggy sweatpants and a wife beater, his muscular shoulders bare. 

They snuggled up on the couch together, Bucky's head resting on Steve's shoulders and the alpha's arm around the other. Bucky inhaled Steve's scent deeply, and he knew that Steve did the same by the way his broad chest rose and fell and he shuffled awkwardly. 

Bucky knew that Steve was sexually attracted to Bucky. He could smell alpha arousal most of the time when they kissed. Bucky didn't want to go farther than kissing for now, and he loved Steve all the more for realizing that without being told and not taking things to the next step. 

Steve opened up his laptop and opened up google drive. 

"I, um... made a google doc about the houses," Steve said, looking a little embarrassed. Bucky nodded and pressed closer to Steve to see his screen. 

The first house that Steve showed him looked like it was almost a tudor house, with red brick on the front. It had five bedrooms and five bathrooms, which Bucky like, but didn't think that they would need for a while. The house was in an area of Lancaster County called Zooks Corner. The area was small and beautiful, not an area that Bucky would hate living in. The inside of the house was beautiful for the most part, although the kitchen looked a little outdated. 

 

"What do you think of this house?" Steve asked, sounding excited. 

"It's okay," Bucky replied. "I don't really like the inside or the color of the bricks outside, but it is a pretty big house." 

"Okay...what about this one?" Steve clicked on the next house

Bucky could tell a theme with Steve and brick. He had to admit, he like this house a whole lot better. It was so much more prettier on the outside and the inside than the first house. It had 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a little bit smaller than the first house, which Bucky liked. He didn't want a massive house for just him and Steve. It was so much less money than the first house, in addition, about $200,00 less. 

"I like this house a whole lot better," Bucky commented, wrapping his arms around Steve's. 

"I like it too," Steve agreed, and Bucky suddenly felt extremely happy. He was looking at house with his boyfriend, a sure sign that they were one day going to get mated. 

 _Mated..._ Bucky found himself staring up at Steve. The alpha looked back down at him, smiling. "What is it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Nothing. I'm realizing how lucky I am." 

Steve chuckled and pressed a kiss to Bucky's forehead. "You aren't that lucky, baby. Look at me." 

Bucky smirked. "Asshole." He tilted his head back so that Steve's lips met his. As usual, sparks exploded in Bucky's body and he felt weightless. Steve's hands came up to cup either side of his face as Bucky twined his arms around the other's neck. He threaded his fingers through the short hairs at the base of Steve's neck. Their lips moved in sync, their heads tilting just right way. In a sudden burst of confidence, Bucky found himself swinging one of his legs over Steve's, rising up on his knees over the alpha. Steve removed his hands from Bucky's face long enough to take his computer off his lap. 

Steve placed his hands on Bucky's waist, gently lifting up his shirt so that his hands could settle on the omega's skin. Bucky breathed in heavily through his nose, getting a whiff of alpha arousal. He could feel tingles running through his body in response to Steve's change in scent. Bucky could feel himself getting excited and knew that his scent was probably changing, as well. Steve broke off the kiss to press his lips against Bucky's neck, right near the mating mark would go. 

This was the farthest Bucky and Steve had ever gone, but Bucky was loving every minute of it. His heart was beating fast, his breath was coming out in gasps, and he felt alive, so alive. Steve's hands ran up his back underneath his shirt. Bucky let his hands wander down from the back of Steve's neck to his chest, feeling the firmness of the alpha's pecs underneath his fingertips. 

Steve breathed out a soft swear against Bucky's skin. Bucky pressed his pelvis against Steve's leg, his own leg moving forward until he felt Steve's hardness...

Bucky quickly leaned backwards, aware of what could've happened. An image popped into his head, an old one, one that he should've pushed into the darkest corners of his mind by now...

"Buck? Are you okay?" Steve asked, frowning. 

Bucky took a deep breath. "Yeah...I'm sorry. It's just...I'm not ready yet..." he whispered. 

Steve's eyes grew wide. 

"Shit! I'm so, so sorry, Bucky. I really am. I didn't think..." he shook his head. "I'm so sorry." 

Bucky leaned forward, resting his forehead against Steve's shoulder. The alpha gently combed his fingers through his hair, not in a sexual way, but with a gentle, soothing manner. 

Hydra had ruined him, for sure. He would never be able to be a real mate to Steve, because whenever they got far enough, all Bucky could remember was that tiny, dark room, where all the alphas raped him and forced him to catch on their disgusting seed. Without realizing it, his eyes started getting wet, then tears started trickling down his cheeks, then started really crying, sobbing, onto Steve's shirt. 

"Shh...shh...it's okay. You're not there anymore, it's over..." Steve was murmuring into Bucky's ear as the omega sobbed. Bucky had no clue how Steve knew what he was thinking, but he was grateful he did. 

"We're never going to..." Bucky tried, then trailed, not even able to say it. 

"Yes we will," Steve said firmly, cupping Bucky's face in his hands. "You will find a way to overcome this. You're strong Buck, you're the strongest person I've ever met. You've survived them, you didn't crack while you were there, and you're here with me now, sane and beautiful, and you can remember everything that happened before it. We  _will_ mate one day, don't even doubt it. We're going to mate and move into a beautiful house and have beautiful pups, and don't even try to tell me that you can't anymore, and we'll die old, together and happy." 

"Do you promise?" Bucky asked softly, staring into Steve's shining blue eyes, the corners of which were wet with unshed tears. 

"Of course I promise. I love you, Bucky," Steve replied. 

"I love you, too." 

Bucky leaned into Steve's chest, and the alpha wrapped his arms around him. Bucky thought, for the first time, that  _maybe_ he could heal fully until he and Steve could finally mate and be together forever. 

_A house and pups and dying old and together sounds so nice..._

***

Bucky was nervous. 

He had no reason to be, of course, it wasn't like these were  _his_ pups. He followed Steve into the sterile hospital room, getting hit the scent of milk almost immediately as he stepped through the door. 

Wanda laid in the hospital bed, her hair a mess, but her eyes bright. In her arms she held a tiny pup wrapped in a pastel green blanket. Victor sat in the chair next to her, holding a pale yellow bundle. The alpha was chatting with a strong-looking black man, who turned as Steve and Bucky entered. 

"Hey, man!" the black guy said, greeting Steve with the typical bro handshake and hug. Bucky gave Wanda small wave, which she returned with a smile.

"And you must be Bucky," the man said, turning to Bucky now. The omega nodded and shook the man's outstretched hand. 

"I'm Sam."

 _Of course._ Bucky remembered Steve telling him about one of his closest friends, Sam Wilson. Apparently they had met in high school and bonded over a shared love of the military. Sam had actually gone to the Air Force right out of high school, taking online courses for college. He had done his four years, then moved to New York City to live near Steve. Steve had told Bucky that even though Sam was a really nice person, he could be a little cocky at times. 

 _Beta,_ Bucky thought when he inhaled Sam's scent. It was one of the nicer scents he had smelled, kind of like warm spring breezes. He looked nice enough, and smiled genuinely at Bucky when they shook hands. 

Bucky moved over to Wanda's bed once Sam, Steve, and Victor all started talking. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, staring at the tiny pup in her arms. 

"Amazing," she replied, grinning widely. "I was so out of it yesterday- they had to do a C-section to get both pups out safely, and I guess the anesthesia hadn't worn off for a long time. Victor said I was acting weirdly. That's why he didn't let anyone visit us yesterday."

She glanced over at her mate then, smiling warmly. 

 _Oh_. Bucky felt rather stupid. He had thought that Victor was a rude alpha who wanted to keep his mate shut up, but he really just didn't want to overwhelm her. Maybe they had just had a fight the night they ate dinner with Steve and Bucky and were tense with each other. 

"This is Thomas. Do you want to hold him?" Wanda asked, holding out her tiny pup. 

"Can I?" Bucky breathed, and Wanda nodded. She gently handed the pup off to Bucky, who held his breath, trying not to drop the precious bundle. He was heavier than Bucky had expected, but not by too much. He was warm and smelled like milk and fresh linen. 

The pup's face was tiny and red, with a button nose, tightly shut eyes, and very pink lips. 

"He's adorable," Bucky said in awe, gently pushing the blanket down a bit so he could see more of his face. 

"Thanks," Wanda replied. "He was born about three minutes after his brother. Seven pounds, 3 ounces. He's rather big." 

Bucky nodded, watching at the pup yawned and snuggled down further into the blanket. 

"It's a miracle that they're asleep right now, really. They were up all night, crying for milk."

"Well, you look great," Bucky tried, and Wanda smiled widely. "Thanks! I just took a shower before Sam got here. It was very quick, though. I didn't want to leave the pups with just Victor."

"Hey. Would you mind if I held him?" Steve asked, coming up next to Bucky. 

"Of course!" Wanda replied, and Bucky handed Thomas off to the alpha. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Victor tense up for a second when Steve held his son for the first time, then slowly relaxed. 

Steve cooed over the tiny pup, while Wanda repeated his weight and how well he slept. Bucky watched as Steve gently booped the pup's nose, which caused Thomas to scrunch up his face, his tiny mouth falling open. 

Wanda and Steve laughed, but Bucky couldn't help but be mesmerized by the pup's movements. 

This was what he had been robbed of, this new life, this precious moment with the pup. 

Before he knew it, he was being handed the other pup, Will, by Sam, who returned talking with Victor after. He heard Steve chuckled and looked over. Thomas has his whole hand wrapped around Steve's index finger, holding onto it for dear life. Bucky smiled. Steve was just so natural with pups, Bucky didn't even have a doubt that he would make a great father. 

"Sorry we're late." 

Bucky glanced over his shoulder. Two guys had just entered the room. Bucky could tell that one of them was an alpha, by the way he held himself, like he was the most important person in the room, but he couldn't tell what the other one was. 

"Tony," Victor said, raising and giving the alpha the same hug that Sam had given Steve. "You're not that late- Nat isn't even here yet. Who's this?" He turned to the other person. 

"This is my new intern, Peter Parker," the alpha said proudly. Victor and Peter shook hands, the latter smiling brightly. 

"When did he start with you?" Victor asked, talking to Tony rather than Peter, which Bucky thought a little rude. 

"Oh, around mid-January. He's really amazing and catches on quickly," Tony replied, looking down at Peter with dark eyes.

Victor nodded and started to talk to Sam again, so Tony moved to greet Steve. 

"How've you been, man?" Tony asked, patting Steve roughly on the back. "I feel like I haven't seen you in so long."

"Yeah," Steve said. "Oh, and you remember Bucky, of course?" 

"Of course! It's not like he's someone you could forget. We went to war for him, didn't we?" Tony said, shaking Bucky's hand. Bucky had to admit, even though he acted like a cocky alpha, he really wasn't that bad. He smelled a little off, a lot like cologne and plain alpha, like he didn't have a really distinct smell about him.

Bucky glanced over at Peter. He looked really young, like he had just graduated college or something. His eyes were a very dark brown and matched his wavy hair. He was rather cute, Bucky thought, and had a very innocent manner about him. He was wearing a gray sweater over a blue plaid button-down shirt, skinny jeans, and faded sneakers, which Bucky thought kind of ruined the looked. Peter shifted a little, sending a whiff of his scent over to Bucky. 

He was an omega. 

A male omega. 

He had a very light and flowery scent, not strong, but pretty and omega-like. He offered Bucky a shy smile, who realized that Peter must've smelled him, as well. 

"And this is my new intern, Peter Parker," Tony said, breaking into Bucky's thoughts. Peter shook Steve's hand first, giving him a small "hi," before he shook Bucky's. The omega's grip was strong and warm, not exactly what Bucky had been expecting. 

_Another male omega._

When Tony and Steve started talking about their respective companies, Bucky and Peter were left to themselves. 

"So...," Bucky started, trying to make things a little less awkward. "You're Tony's intern?" 

"Well, yeah. I'm really interested in engineering, and he's one of the best weapon designers in the U.S. It's actually really cool, because I didn't think I would get the internship. There were all these different people getting interviewed for it, and most of them were older and really knew exactly what they wanted to do. I really haven't decided yet. Well, I mean, my major is in engineering, general, and that's pretty broad. It was really exciting when I got the call to say that I got the internship. And yeah, like To-Mr. Stark said, I started in January." 

Bucky hummed and glanced quickly over at Steve and Tony, who seemed to be laughing at something on Tony's phone together. 

"Sorry for me asking, but are you and Steve a couple?" Peter asked, looking embarrassed. 

"Yes. We've been dating for only a short while now. What about you?" 

Peter blinked. "What about me?" 

"Are you dating anybody?" 

The omega instantly blushed, his entire face turning a few shades darker. "Well...I mean...I guess... but we haven't really told anybody yet..."

Bucky shrugged. "That's fine," he said. He couldn't help observe that when Peter was speaking, he kept glancing over at Tony. He leaned in closer to the other omega and whispered, "If you don't mind me asking, is it Tony?" 

Peter glanced away. "Yeah..." he mumbled. 

"Oh, really? For how long now?"

"I'd say for about two months now," Tony butted in, casually throwing an arm around Peter's shoulders. He pressed a kiss to the omega's temple, who looked about ready to die from embarrassment at that point. 

"You're dating?' Steve asked, frowning. 

"Of course we are, caveman, keep up," Tony said, looking rather smug as everybody in the room started asking them about it. 

"Soon I won't be the only person with pups, will I?" Wanda asked Peter. 

"Oh my god, shut up!" he said, but he was smiling. Bucky could tell that as everyone started talking about it more, the omega seemed to relax. Shortly after, another one of their friends, Natasha showed up, and things just seemed to get louder. 

Bucky, Wanda, and Peter chatted most of the time. Bucky really liked both the omega and beta. They were both very down-to-earth, but have very witty senses of humor. He found himself having a good time with them.

All too soon, Victor kicked everyone out, saying that "Wanda and the pups need their rest!" Bucky and Peter said goodbye to Wanda and exchanged numbers before leaving. 

"I bet I'll see you some other time," Peter said when he was leaving with Tony. 

"Yeah, probably," Bucky replied, giving the other omega a wave. 

"So you and Peter got along well, huh?" Steve said when he and Bucky were walking back to their car.

Bucky nodded. "It's just nice to see another person like me." 

Steve hummed in agreement. 

After they got in the car, he said, "What's strange though is that Tony was actually dating another omega, a woman named Pepper Potts. They seemed so happy and everything, I wonder why they broke up and now he's suddenly dating Peter."

Bucky shrugged. "Maybe they just weren't feeling things anymore." 

"Mmm. Maybe." 

They fell into a comfortable silence after that. The 40s radio was playing softly in the background, with Steve humming along and gently drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. 

As they were pulling into the garage, Steve's phone started ringing. He pulled it out and glanced down at the caller ID, his eyes widening. 

"Uh, Bucky. You go on inside. I have to take this call. It's really important." 

Bucky frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive. Just go in. I should be no more than five minutes." 

"Alright..." Bucky got out of the car slowly. As he made his way into the living room, he glanced back at Steve in the car. The phone was up to his ear and he was talking into it, his eyes wide. Bucky couldn't decipher the emotion on his face. It was somewhere between shocked and ecstatic. 

_I wonder what the hell this is about._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the extremely long update! Don't kill me! 
> 
> We're gettin' to the end of the story!!! 😏😏😏😏😏


	28. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna let ya'll know: I know literally nothing about buying and selling houses, so this is probably completely inaccurate.
> 
> I also had to split this into two chapters it's so long lol.

Steve quickly pressed his phone against his face. 

"Hello?" 

"Rogers. You're in luck. We found what you were looking for." 

Steve's heart hammered in his chest. "Y-you did?" 

"Well, more like one-fourth of what you were looking for, but yes." 

"Oh my god." Steve could barely keep the smile off his face. Even though they only found one, it didn't matter. It was  _one._

"The oldest pup, Oliver," Fury said. "He was given to a really rich couple who neglected him. An agency called the American Agency for Bred Pups found him in his house with his parents away on a nice weekend retreat to Las Vegas. He had no babysitter, no food or water, and was left in the middle of the living room, crying. Some nice neighborhood heard the baby and called 9-1-1. The police eventually handed the pup over to the A.A.B.P., but not before they arrested his adopted parents. Turns out Kristen and Richard Davis were in partnership with Hydra- they would steal things and give Hydra the money, and in return, Hydra would lend them an omega to use for a week. 

"Apparently there's tons of others of these sponsors for Hydra. The F.B.I. thought that they were just all thieves who were all operating under the same person, because of the same mark that they left at every crime scene, but after what you and the others did, illegally might I add, we now know that they're so much more. Anyway, the A.A.B.P. found Oliver when he was about ten months old, I think? And that was nearly two years ago. He's been living in their Chicago branch ever since then, but they're willing to move him to their Albany branch in the next two weeks if Barnes really did mother him." 

Steve could hardly breathe. He couldn't believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. had actually found one of Bucky's pups. 

"And how can we prove that?" he asked. 

"Simple. Just a DNA test. The A.A.B.P. will send you some cotton swabs or whatever and all Barnes has to do is get some of his spit on it and send it back. They can do that tests within two days, and get back to you shortly with the results. My guess is that nothing will go wrong. Once you prove that Oliver is Barnes's, you two will just need to pick him up in Albany. Now, the only hard thing will be you." 

"What about me?" 

"Are you and Barnes mated yet?" 

"Um...no..." Steve found it kind of weird that Fury was asking about that. He could feel his face heating up in his car, even though he knew that Fury couldn't see him. He wanted to get mated to Bucky, of course. Bucky just wasn't ready yet. And he hadn't even had one heat ever since Hydra. Steve had been thinking about taking Bucky to an omega doctor to see what was going on, but his best guess was that Bucky's body just needed a lot of time to heal after being forced to have heats for four years. It would be impossible for an omega to stop having heats while they were still young...right? 

"Ah. Yes, that will be rather complicated. It would be so much easier if you and Barnes were already mated, because you could just easily adopt Oliver while you're at the Albany branch. It would just be a little paperwork and it would be free, since you and Barnes would be biologically tied together, so technically, you would be Oliver's father biologically in the country's eyes. But since you're not, you're going to have to go through the normal steps of adoption- you know, the A.A.B.P. would have to do all these background checks on you and you would have to pay. Thankfully not that much, though, since you'd be the only one adopting him. I can help you with the money if you need the assistance- it's about six thousand dollars."

Steve sighed. He hadn't thought of the fact that he would need to adopt Bucky's pup. He and Bucky were planning on getting mated and if they didn't do it now, they would most defiantly have to do it later, probably without the help of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

"I'm thinking about half," he tried. "I don't want to go into too much debt, and things will be getting hard soon, since we're planning on moving." 

"You are?" Fury sounded shocked. "Where to?" 

"Just down to Pennsylvania, nowhere too far. Both Bucky and I just wanted to get out of the city."

"Well, congratulations, I guess. And there won't be any debt. It's what S.H.I.E.L.D. does." 

Steve bit his lip. It would be really nice to only pay half of it, but he felt like he would seem desperate if he just accepted the money. "Are you sure? There's no interest?"

"Hell no, no interest. If we made everyone who we gave money too pay us back with interest, we'd be richer than kings. No, believe it or not, S.H.I.E.L.D. likes to live a quiet life." 

After seeing their building, Steve couldn't tell if Fury was joking or not, but he just gave a little chuckle anyway. 

"Have you found the other two pups? I already know that one of them died." 

"Two of them died," Fury corrected. "Madison Emilia died in a car crash, and Jessica Olivia didn't make it past one month. Some kind of disease, I think. The only pup who has completely disappeared is Thalia Alexandra. I think she was moved out of the country, but I just don't know where."

"So there's only Oliver?" Steve asked. 

"Yeah," Fury responded. Do you have any more questions? I have another call in about six minutes." 

"I don't think so, but just to clarify, all we have to do is do the DNA test for Bucky, apply for an adoption, go to Albany when Oliver's there, sign some papers, and pick him up?" 

"Yes, but it could be between one to six months before you can actually adopt him. It would actually take about a year, but we've been helping you out. You helped us out, after all." 

"Thanks, Fury," Steve said, and he meant it. He couldn't imagine how Bucky would react when he was told that he had a pup, but had to wait a year before he could see him. 

"No problem, Rogers. Take care, will you? I wish you and Barnes the best of luck." 

"Thanks," Steve said again before hanging up. He still could barely believe that this was happening. Bucky was going to have his pup again. Hell,  _Steve_ was going to have a pup. 

_I'm going to have a son._

A strange thrill ran through him when he thought the words. 

_A son._

Steve shook himself and got out of his car, tucking his phone in his back pocket. All he needed to do now was break the news to Bucky.

The omega was making hot chocolate when Steve walked in the house, stirring two mugs at once. Steve's heart swelled and he couldn't help but feel so lucky. 

"I hope you want hot chocolate," Bucky said when he noticed Steve. "I'll drink it if you don't. There's this movie that I saw on Netflix, the Imitation Game or something? Do you want to watch it with me? It looks good." 

"Bucky, I need to talk to you about something," Steve said, walking over to the omega.

Bucky shrugged. "Okay. What is it?" 

Steve took a deep breath. He had no clue how he was going to say this. 

"Nick Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D. just called me." 

Steve could see the hesitation in Bucky's eyes. They were narrowed, searching his gaze. "Okay...what about...?" 

"Well, about a month ago, I called him and asked him to do a favor for me."

"What was the favor?" 

"I asked him to find your pups, Buck." 

Bucky's mouth fell open. He stared at Steve for a long time before finally saying, "Are you serious?" His voice cracked. 

"I'm completely serious. He just called me to say that he's found one of your pups." 

Steve honestly had no clue what he expected Bucky to do when he told him that. He was thought that Bucky might be happy, might hug him. But Bucky just stood there, frozen, with his mouth hanging open. 

"Hydra gave him to a family who neglected him," Steve went on slowly. "An agency called the American Agency for Bred Pups took him in. He's in Chicago right now, but I think that Fury called them to inform them about you. He said that they're going to bring him up to Albany in the next two weeks and if you take a DNA test and it says that you gave birth to Oliver, then we can drive up there and sign a few papers and take him home." 

Bucky pressed his hands to his mouth, his eyes watering as Steve was talking. 

"His name's Oliver?" he said, his voice cracking. 

"Er, yeah. He's your oldest pup, I think." 

"Oh my god," Bucky breathed out. "My pup." 

Steve nodded. He hesitated for a moment before walking over and gently placing his arm around Bucky's shoulders. The omega leaned into him, turning his face so that he could scent his neck. Steve remained silent, allowing Bucky to collect himself for a moment. 

"He's about three years old now," Steve murmured into Bucky's hair. "But I'm sure he still remembers your scent." 

Bucky nodded and wrapped his arms around Steve, hugging him tightly. 

"The only, um, trouble will be with me," Steve said and Bucky pulled away to look him in the eyes. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, since we're not mated, it's going to take probably more than a month for me to adopt him. Fury said that-"

"You're going to adopt him?" Bucky broke in, his eyes wide.

"Well, yeah, I mean, either we do it now, or we do it later, and if we do it now, S.H.I.E.L.D. will pay for half of it. If we were mated, it would be free, but I don't want to push you or anything." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Of course I'm sure. We're going to get mated one day, Bucky, I don't care how broken you think you are, you'll find a way to overcome it."

"Shit," Bucky mumbled, burying his face once again in Steve's chest. "What did I do to deserve you?" 

Steve chuckled. "I think it's the other way around, baby." 

Steve explained to Bucky how the DNA test would work and the papers they had to sign. Bucky agreed to wait a few months until Steve could adopt Oliver to see his pup. 

"I want us to be a real family when we first meet him," Bucky said. 

Finally, they moved off the kitchen floor, reheated their now cold chocolates, and started the Imitation Game, with Bucky snuggled up to Steve's side and the alpha's arm around him. Steve could hardly wait until they brought Oliver home. He hoped by then or shortly after, he and Bucky would be mated. He glanced down at the omega, who was intently watching the TV and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. 

_It's like I fall in love again every day._

***

"Hey, Ben!" Steve called out as soon as he entered the gym. 

"Yeah, Steve?" came the response from the back room. Steve walked through the doors to see Ben Maccarthy, the other founder of his gym, sorting the various yoga mats they had. 

"What's up, man?" Ben asked. Steve and Ben had known each other since college. They were both athletic training majors, and had started their gym, ROM Fitness, shortly after they graduated. 

"I, uh, needed to talk to you about something," Steve said, not really knowing how to begin. 

"Okay, what is it?" 

Steve took a deep breath. "I'm going to move." 

Ben raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right?" 

"No, I'm not. I'm moving to Pennsylvania and I'm leaving here." 

"So you're quitting?" 

"What the hell? I'm not quitting! I just can't drive to New York City every day for work while I'm living in Pennsylvania."

Ben sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Why are you moving?" 

"Well, I've told you about my boyfriend, Bucky, right?" 

Ben nodded. 

"We've been talking about moving to Pennsylvania for a little bit now, and we've just started looking at houses now. And, god this is complicated, we just found his pup, they got separated when the pup was born, and I'm going to adopt him and we really don't think that New York City is a great place to raise a pup." 

After the movie had finished last night, Steve and Bucky stayed up, talking about their moving plans. They decided that yes, they were defiantly going to move to Pennsylvania. Steve sent a quick email late last night to the real estate agent he had bought his house from, telling her about his plans to move. He had also contacted the real estate agents of two houses that he and Bucky really liked down in Pennsylvania. 

"So you're just going to leave me here all by myself?" Ben asked, frowning. 

"Look, man, I'm really sorry. If I could do it, I would take this gym down to Pennsylvania with me. Anyway, you have Chelsea and Nathaniel and Emily to help you around the place." 

Ben sighed. "They're just workers. They like, don't know anything." 

Steve shrugged. "So teach them. Chelsea's pretty smart. I'm sure she could catch on quickly." 

Ben shook his head. "I don't like this, man," he said. 

"I'll be around for another month to set things in order," Steve replied. "It'll be fine- I'll just sign some papers and hand the company over to only you." 

Ben ran his fingers through his hair again. 

 _He always does that whenever he's upset,_ Steve noted. 

"Alright, man, just don't expect this place to last long after you've gone." 

Steve paused. He stared at Ben, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. Then Ben's face cracked into a smile, and Steve found himself chuckling. Ben could never joke and keep a straight face at the same time. 

"I'm defiantly gonna miss you," he said, patting Ben on the back. 

***

**June 2018**

The next two weeks had been the busiest of Steve's life. His real estate agent had called him, so he had to set up a meeting with her in preparation to put his house on the market, he managed to set up times to view the two houses down in Pennsylvania, the DNA test for Bucky came, and he had to buy a new car and sell his old one. He was really sad to see his Volkswagen beetle go, but it really wasn't going to be a functional car for when they would have Oliver- too small and old. The new car he got was a 2013 Chevy Silverado 1500, blue, like his old car. When Steve got the car, it made him think about if Bucky would ever need one of his own. Probably, he decided, if he was at work and Bucky wanted to go someplace. Then that made him think about if Bucky would ever get a job, which he decided that yes, Bucky probably would. He didn't strike Steve as the kind of omega who would want to stay home for his entire life. He did that already, and Steve knew that he hated it, he had even complained to Steve about how he was so bored at home during the day. 

Finally, at the beginning of June, he got a little rest. He and Bucky had planned to go down to Pennsylvania to look at the two houses while Steve's real estate agent would be showing their house during the same weekend. The weather was warm and sunny, which Steve loved. Summertime was his favorite time of the year. 

The drive was about three hours, which would be hell if Steve was by himself, but he had Bucky with him. They started out in the morning, at eight o'clock, and ate breakfast at a small diner just outside of New York City. Once they were fueled up and back on the road, Steve found that long car trips with Bucky were actually really fun. He would play the most recent pop songs and belt out the lyrics at the top of his lungs, trying to sound terrible, but to Steve's ears, he could never be. Steve would sing along to the few songs that he knew, combining his awkwardly deep baritone with Bucky's falsetto in a very strange way. 

They reached their destination at around half past noon, after taking a detour through the beautiful countryside. Neither Steve nor Bucky had been to any place like Lancaster County, and they were excited to see the many miles of farmlands and cows. 

 

Bucky was the one to spot their first Amish buggy. He excitedly grabbed Steve's arm and pointed rather openly at it through the window. 

"Oh my god, Steve, look! Imagine seeing this all the time!" 

Bucky made them pull over at an Amish house that was selling homemade root beer, which was honestly the best thing Steve had ever tasted. In addition to that, the excitement that shone in Bucky's eyes as he stared around at the horses that were in the fields made it ten times better. 

 _I can't wait to live here,_ Steve thought, smiling. 

The first house was in Manheim, a small town in Lancaster county. It was very old-school and quiet, which Steve liked. It was a very brick town, nearly all the buildings were made out of brick, which Steve loved. The house itself was a rather country-looking gray brick, with a cool pattern around the windows. The yard was very well-kept and it looked clean and new. 

The agent was already outside, a very short woman who looked to be in her sixties, with graying hair and bright red lipstick that stood out from her black pantsuit. 

"You must be Steve Rogers," she said when Steve and Bucky walked up to her. "I'm Jane Teague." 

"Nice to meet you," Steve replied, taking her hand. He couldn't quite catch her scent, she wore too much perfume, but he was sure she was a beta. She didn't speak to Bucky and only gave him a very sparing glance, which Steve thought rather rude.

"How was the drive down here?" she asked as they made their way to the front door, trying to start a conversation. 

"Not too bad," Steve replied. "It was only about three hours, and we left at eight in the morning, so we had some time to go sightseeing." 

Jane nodded. "Yes, Pennsylvania is a beautiful place. I've lived here for nearly twenty years now, and before this, it was San Diego. I prefer the country so much more than the city." 

"I know what you mean," Steve said. "The both of us grew up in Brooklyn, and lived in New York City for pretty much our entire lives. We just want a change in scenery." 

Jane opened the door and held it open for Steve, but not for Bucky, walking in right in front of him. Steve glanced back at the omega, who was now glaring at the agent's back. Steve gently placed a hand on the small of his back. He could feel Bucky relaxing a bit under his touch. 

"This foyer opens up into a beautiful kitchen and living room," Jane said, leading them into a kitchen. 

It wasn't too bad, Steve thought, but it was a little small and there was no island in the middle, something that he knew Bucky liked. The ceiling were very in the living room, though, which made the room seem larger than it really was. 

There were lots of big windows, allowing natural light the enter in the rooms. It was a beautiful house, really not too small, not when Steve reminded himself that there would only be three people living in it. He could tell that Bucky liked it. The omega would stare around the house with fascination in his eyes, a slight smile on his face. 

When Jane led them into the master bedroom, Steve slipped his hand into Bucky's and gave it a slight squeeze.

"...gorgeous windows to let in tons of natural light," Jane was saying, gesturing to the large windows that overlooked the side yard.

 

There were so many things right with the house, that Steve didn't think that he and Bucky would ever have to do any work, which was a relief, seeing as Steve's house currently had been in the worst shape when he bought it. Because houses in the outskirts of New York City were so expensive, he bought an extremely old, run-down house for nearly six hundred thousand dollars, with the help of a loan from the bank, of course. He had to fix it up over the years of him living in it, with Sam's help, until it was finally livable in. Steve bought it after living in an apartment for about six months after college, which would've been impossible, if he hadn't inherited the money that his father had saved in the bank from his early-on job as a mechanic. 

When Steve found out about the money, he was pissed. His father had forced him and his mother to live in the worst conditions ever, with very little food each day and only the clothes on their back, while he kept away thousands of money and spent all the money he and his mother made at their jobs on alcohol and cigarettes. 

It would be so nice just to buy a house and go straight into living in it. 

Jane led them upstairs, talking about the last owners of the house, but neither Steve nor Bucky was really listening. There were three other bedrooms on the second floor, and one bathroom, all of which were good sizes. 

The yard outside was rather spacious, as well, with a patio off of the dining room. There was interesting brick work all around the house, which was probably Steve's favorite feature of the house. 

"So, what do you think?" Jane asked Steve after they'd  _finally_ complete the tour. 

"I like it a lot," Steve said. "I love all the brick everywhere, I love the kitchen, and the size of the yard. I think it's a really good price for this house, especially since there's not a lot of work needed to be done."

Jane nodded. "This is a fairly new house in comparison to some houses in this area; it was built in 1978 and has only had two owners before, so everything's in really good condition." 

"I thought the kitchen was a little small, and I didn't like the weird, curved island in the kitchen, either. And also, what are we going to do with two extra bedrooms? There's already an office for you, Steve, and I can't see that we would have tons of guests over." 

Jane shot Bucky a tight-lipped smile. Steve could feel the tension in the air between the two, and he quickly intervened, "How much did you say this house was going for again?" 

"Four hundred and fifty thousand," Jane replied, "Is that okay?" 

Steve shrugged. "I'll have to look at what my current house sells for and make a decision then."

Jane nodded. "Of course. Thank you so much for coming down here! I really hope that you seriously consider buying this house. I promise you, you won't be disappointed."

They shook hands before Steve and Bucky made their way to Steve's truck. 

"I really didn't like her," Bucky said, glaring at Jane's retreating back. 

Steve chuckled. "I could tell, Buck." 

***

The next house was only about a forty minute drive from the first one. Steve and Bucky stopped on the way to grab a quick meal for lunch before they got there. The second house was in a tiny town called Strasburg. Like most of the towns in Lancaster County, it was a small area of tightly-packed together houses surrounded by miles and miles of farmland. The house actually had its own farmland, a very small piece just to the right of the actual house. 

"Wow, this is beautiful," Bucky commented as they drove up to the house. Steve hummed in approval, shut off the engine, and then leaned over and gave Bucky a soft kiss on the lips. 

"What was that for?" he asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. 

Steve shrugged. "I just felt like kissing my boyfriend," he said, causing Bucky to raise his eyebrows. "I hope this one will be a lot more friendlier." 

They got out of the car and made their way to the front of the house. Another car was there, but he didn't see the agent outside, so Steve assumed that she was inside. 

"I love the color of this house," Bucky commented as they stepped up on the porch. Even though there was no brick, Steve had to agree, the color was amazing, like a bright, happy blue. 

(Ignore the Christmas stuff on the door) 

Steve knocked on the door and it immediately opened, reveling a young woman who looked like she was in her mid-twenties. She smiled widely when she saw them.

"You must be Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, right? My name is Adrienne González, " she asked, holding her hand out for Steve to shake. 

"Yeah, that's us," Steve replied, taking her hand. She shook Bucky's hand next, then allowed them to step into the house. The inside of the house felt very farmhouse and rustic, complete with brick columns and a wood ceiling. Steve wasn't sure he liked it exactly- he liked more of the simple features of the other house in Manheim. 

(Ignore the Christmas tree)

The windows in the living room were huge, however, and the main rooms on the first floor were very open, allowing for a lot of natural light to filter in. Adrienne told Steve and Bucky about how the kitchen had been newly updated, with a new sink and all new cabinets. Steve could tell that Bucky was enthralled with house; he was hanging onto every word Adrienne said. The house only had one living room, as Steve shorty realized, when Adrienne led them into a room which he had up until then thought it was the den, but realized it was the master bedroom. He didn't like having the master bedroom on the ground floor; he had a feeling like he and Bucky would want to be near Oliver. 

But the master bedroom was gorgeous, painted with a nice, light gray so the room seemed so open. Too open for Steve, in fact, so that it seemed rather empty. The master bathroom was amazing as well, with a bath  _and_ a shower, and a separate room for the toilet. The closets in the master bedroom were huge as well, giant walk-in closets with tons of space. 

Adrienne showed them a modest mudroom with a laundry room attached. The mudroom opened up to a covered walkway to the detached two-car garage.  

"I'll show you a surprise in the garage once we're done upstairs," she said, flashing a smile at Bucky, who happily returned. There were two bedrooms upstairs, plus a bonus room. Each bedroom had its own bathroom, each one spacious, although kind of outdated. It was clear that while tons of work had been done on the lower level, there wasn't much done on the top level. Adrienne led them back down to the mudroom, where they moved out into the backyard. 

It was beautiful, covered with trees, providing lots of shade that Steve knew they would be thankful for in the summer. Off to the right, past the garage, the yard stretched out even further, into rolling hills with overgrown grass and littered with tiny white flowers here and there. 

"Is this real?" Bucky asked, shielding his eyes with one hand. 

Adrienne chuckled. "I know, right? I've been living in Lancaster County for nearly four years now and I still can't get used to how pretty this place is." 

Bucky and Adrienne then started talking about basically Adrienne's whole life, leaving Steve to feel very awkward. Finally, though, they went into the garage, and into the "surprise" in the garage that Adrienne had been talking about. It was an extra room with a half bath attached. 

"This could be like your study or something, Steve," Bucky suggested. The people before them seemed to have used it as a play room; there were toys everywhere and scratches and marks on the walls, but really, nothing Steve couldn't fix. 

"So, what do you guys think?" Adrienne asked. 

"I loved it," Bucky burst out. "I love the whole rustic, farmhouse feel of this place. I really love the kitchen, it's just so big and open. And I also like the bonus room upstairs and this room- it'll give Steve an area to work where he won't be bothered." 

Steve forced a smile when Adrienne glanced at him. To be honest, there wasn't a whole lot he liked about the house other than the size and the extra room in the garage. He supposed he could live with it, seeing as Bucky really liked it, and the house in Manheim was kind of ruined by Jane. 

"So, you're asking five hundred eighty thousand for this place?" Steve clarified, and Adrienne nodded. "Have you had a lot of offers yet?" 

"Quite a few. I'd say about four or five," Adrienne replied. "And they're all pretty good prices, so if you really want this house, you'd better be willing to go very close to the asking price." 

Steve nodded, taking a deep breath. He glanced at Bucky. "I think we need some time to think about it. We saw another house that I really liked, but Bucky didn't really. We can get back to you tomorrow, on Sunday, if that's okay?" 

"That's fine. We have an open house from twelve-thirty to three, one of our last ones, you should drop by during then."

"Alright, cool. Thanks for your time," Steve said, shaking Adrienne's hand once again. After a few goodbyes from Bucky and Adrienne, Steve and Bucky made their way to the truck. It was only three-thirty, and they had planned on staying until tomorrow, meaning that they would have to find something to do until nighttime. They were planning on staying at a motel in Lancaster, only about a twenty minute drive to either house. 

"Oh my god, I can't believe we're actually doing this," Bucky said once they were on the road again. 

"Doing what?" 

"Actually buying a house. Together." 

Steve smiled. "It's pretty exciting, isn't it?"

"Yeah. And scary. What if something goes wrong and we don't get either house, but we sell yours? We'll be homeless."

"Everything's going to work out just fine, Buck, believe me. The only problem is that I like the Manheim house, and you like the Strasburg one."

"We're living in the farmhouse," Bucky said, determined. "I ain't doing business with that agent." 

Steve chuckled. "I guess I can't argue with you on that. But seriously, Bucky, we should really look at this actually. The first one is less expensive and there's, like, no work that needs to be done on it. On the second house, the second floor bathrooms need to be updated and it's one hundred thirty thousand more dollars than the first one. I'm going to be quitting my job, so the less expensive, the better. And anyway, the farmhouse already has offers placed on it, that the seller is probably going to pick." 

"But the second one has so much more character," Bucky argued. "And there's  _two_ extra rooms- one which we can use as your own private office. And there's a huge yard. I also feel like the first house is way too big for just three people- there's so many bedrooms that we won't even use. I like the second one a whole lot better- I like the style, the size, everything about it really." 

Steve sighed. He felt like he and Bucky were arguing, and he hated it. He knew that there would be disagreements in every relationship, of course, he just hated it. He didn't want Bucky to think that he was a terrible alpha. 

He could hardly believe his luck when he spotted a sign in front of an Amish farm that he knew Bucky would love. 

"How would you like to ride some horses?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really tried. 😂  
> I apologize so much for this truly crappy chapter. 
> 
> The first house: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Lancaster-County-PA/pmf,pf_pt/83187676_zpid/2776_rid/globalrelevanceex_sort/40.376366,-75.807038,39.659099,-76.788941_rect/9_zm/ 
> 
> The second house: https://www.thehousedesigners.com/plan/the-ingalls-9772/  
> (Sorry that they're aren't a whole lot of pictures for the farmhouse, there will be more in the second chapter, however.)


	29. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally know nothing on how to buy houses, so please don't judge me if this is totally wrong (which it probably is).
> 
> Okay so I just realized that at the beginning of the book, Steve actually lived in Washington, D.C., not New York City, but for the purposes of not having poor me go back and change everything I've written recently, let's just pretend that Steve and his friends have just always lived in the outskirts of New York City and that S.H.I.E.L.D. is actually in New York.  
> Oops.

Steve was brain tired. After an interesting episode of riding horses where he nearly fell off trying to get on and realized that he was terrible at riding horses, while Bucky just laughed at him, they ate dinner and talked about the houses. They still hadn't come to a mutual decision, but Steve was starting to lean towards the farmhouse, really only because Bucky liked it so much and talked about it constantly. 

They stayed out late, just walking around the small towns, getting ice cream and looking at all the different shops. It was nice, almost like a date for Steve. By the time it was nearly nine o'clock, both Steve and Bucky were tired from such a packed day. 

Steve found a Red Roof Inn in Lancaster, to which he and Bucky drove to. Steve was grateful to finally be able to fall asleep somewhere after a day of driving. After grabbing their small, overnight bags from the backseat, they made their way to the main office. 

There was only one person behind the desk, a very tired-looking, young man. 

"Hi, welcome to the Red Roof Inn," he said with a complete monotone voice when Steve and Bucky walked through the doors. 

"Hi, can we get two queens please?" Steve asked, knowing that Bucky probably wouldn't feel very comfortable if they had to share a bed, but probably didn't want to have a whole room all to himself. 

The guy glanced down at his computer and typed in something, before saying, "We have no more rooms with queen size beds available. We only have kings." 

"Okay..." Steve cast a glance back at Bucky, then said, "Then can we have two king rooms?"

"Steve, it's literally fine," Bucky insisted. Steve shot him a confused look, and Bucky stepped up to the counter. 

"We'll take one king," he said, taking the credit card that Steve was going to pay with out of his hand. The worker behind the desk raised an eyebrow. 

"Is that your final decision?" he asked. 

"Yes." 

"That'd be fifty-nine-nintey-nine."

Steve bit his lip. That was a bit more than he would've liked to pay for a motel, but it was probably a really good room, and it wasn't like he was willing to stay in some gross motel, especially with Bucky. But a  _king bed?_ That would mean that one of them would either have to sleep on the chair or on the bed, next to the other person...

And Steve wasn't sure he trusted himself sleeping next to Bucky. 

He wasn't aware of what was going on until Bucky was handing his credit card back to him and accepting the room key from the worker. As he took it, Steve saw the worker's eyes settle on Bucky for a moment longer than they should. The worker was lucky he was wearing scent blockers; Steve couldn't tell what he was and if he was an alpha, there would've been a problem. 

As they turned around to walk back outside, Steve wrapped an arm around Bucky's waist and pulled him closer, breathing in large gulps of his calming scent. Bucky didn't ask about it until they were outside. 

"I didn't like the way that man was looking at you," Steve replied, shooting a glare over his shoulder. 

Bucky only grinned, shoving him playfully. "Jeez, punk, you're acting like I'm some little five-year-old pup. Lighten up a bit!" 

"Jerk," Steve chuckled, but he couldn't help but think that maybe Bucky was right. Maybe he was treating him like a little pup. There wasn't anything the man could do, he was seated behind a desk and Bucky was with a man who was clearly an alpha. Steve shook himself. He was just being an idiot. 

They got in their car and drove it to in front of their room number, 143. Steve was thankful to have gotten a parking spot; the whole place was packed. 

"I'm gonna take a shower. I smell like horse," Bucky said once they got in the house, dumping his bag on the floor by their bed. 

"M'kay," Steve said. He didn't think Bucky really smelled like horse; he thought he smelled like himself, and taking a shower would only cover up his natural scent with the fake smell of cheap soap. Steve turned on the TV and randomly flipped through the channels, not really watching anything. He was rather waiting for Bucky to come out of the shower so he could go in. 

Bucky probably took one of the longest showers ever. Steve could only hope that there would be any hot water left by the time he was done. Finally, he came out, dripping wet, and obviously very naked underneath his towel. It was wrapped around his mid-abdomen, not even bothering to cover his chest. Steve swallowed hard and quickly adverted his eyes from Bucky, but not before he caught a glimpse of water droplets rolling down the omega's collarbone. 

_Shit._

"Finally. Took you long enough," he mumbled, grabbing a change of clothes and his shampoo from his suitcase before brushing past Bucky. He tried his best not to breath in while he was walking by, but still managed to catch a whiff of his scent. Steve guessed that Bucky didn't even use the soap, because he smelled like he always did, just more magnified. 

_Double shit._

The bathroom was hot and steamy when Steve walked in. He rolled his eyes, smirking to himself. Of course Bucky would take the world's hottest and longest showers. He turned the water back on, not even having to wait for the water turn hot. He was stripping down when something caught his eye. It was the remnants of a cardboard box, left carelessly on the counter. He picked it up and smoothed it out to read the writing on it. 

_Scent Enhancing Soap._

Steve pulled away the curtain of the shower to reveal a bar of soap, obviously used, on a shelf in the shower. Bucky had used the scent enhancing soap. 

_Son of a bitch. He really knows what he's doing, doesn't he?_

Steve was getting excited, little thrills running through his body and causing his little friend to perk up in hope. So Bucky  _was_ getting more comfortable, after that one awkward kiss where Steve went a little too far and Bucky revealed that he didn't feel ready because of Hydra. 

 _Or maybe it was the only bar of soap there is, idiot,_ the more rational side of his brain supplied. But when Steve checked under the sink, he found there to be normal, vanilla-scented soap, and scent blocking soap. Steve could only pray that Bucky was dropping little hints. 

When Steve stepped into the shower, he was immediately engulfed in Bucky's honey and vanilla scent, which didn't help his problem at all. He probably should've turned the temperature down a little bit from scalding, but he couldn't find himself caring. It'd been a while since he'd left himself get excited, and he had to admit, it felt really nice. 

Still, Steve took probably the fastest shower of his life before he was stepping out into the drastically colder air. He wrapped a towel around his waist and wiped away some steam from the mirror to check himself, pushing his wet hair out of his face with his fingers. He dried himself off some before he realized that he had forgotten a clean pair of boxers. He swore softly, realizing that he was going to have to step out into their room, where Bucky was, fresh from his shower, while he was hard. 

Steve opened the door quickly and walked swiftly over to his bag, not trying to look at Bucky. He could see the omega out of the corner of his eye, sitting on the bed, watching TV. It was on, but quiet, on some game show channel. 

"Forget something?" Steve could hear the tease in Bucky's voice. 

"Yeah," Steve replied, holding up the boxers to show Bucky, which he mentally cursed himself for immediately after. Bucky's cheeks turned a nice shade of pink, and Steve was sure his did the same. Bucky was practically glowing, his skin scrubbed clean and his wet hair pulled back, half-up into a small bun. Steve wet his suddenly dry lips and nearly ran back to the safety of the bathroom, before Bucky saw something poking out beneath his towel that he was not supposed to see  _at all._

It took Steve nearly twenty minutes to dry off after, and finally emerged, still blushing. 

"Some old game show is on, if you care to watch," Bucky offered, obviously trying to forget about the previous interaction. 

"Okay, sure," Steve said, shrugging. Bucky had already claimed a side of the bed, so Steve walked around to the other side, the one nearest the window, and arranged his pillows so he could sit up comfortably. 

It was nice, just being able to relax with Bucky after an exciting day and evening, and it would be nicer, if it weren't for the stupid scent enhancing soap. If it was hell for him, it was hell for Bucky, Steve decided, and he thought of it as some sort of payback. 

He could tell what Bucky was doing when he kept shifting around weirdly during the TV show, because Steve kept doing the same thing, trying to hide his friend. He couldn't be more relieved when it was finally over and Bucky yawned, stretching his arms over his head. Unfortunately, the action also lifted up the bottom of his t-shirt, which looked like sin on him  _anyway,_ way too big and obviously not his (he must've taken it from Steve when they first met and never given it back). Of course, when Bucky announced that he was tired and going to bed, that proved to be a whole new problem in itself. 

Bucky took out his hair, running his fingers through it until he was satisfied, then laid down on his side with his back to Steve, laying the blankets underneath his arms and giving a long sign of content. 

Steve swallowed hard. He just looked so... dare he say it... _domestic._

Steve laid down himself, shutting off the light first and purposely turning himself away from Bucky. It was a large king bed, so thankfully there was enough space in between them. Bucky's scent seemed to grow stronger, nearly stifling Steve as he tried to breath. Steve couldn't fall asleep, but listened to Bucky's breathing turn deep and even, signaling him falling asleep. 

Steve bit his lip. His hand was twitching, wanting to move down and  _finally_ relieve himself, but he thought that that would be rather impolite, since the person he would be thinking about was lying in the same bed as him and probably most defiantly  _would not_ appreciate it if he did it. 

So Steve tried to calm himself down by thinking about old, naked ladies, which helped only a little bit, thanks to Bucky's amazing scent engulfing him. 

After a while, when Steve was certain that Bucky had fallen asleep, he whispered into the darkness, "Hey, Buck?... Would you mind it terribly if I could...spoon you?" 

He waited for a moment, but when no reply came, he shook his head. 

_I'm being stupid. Even if he was awake, he wouldn't want me to. Not after what happened last time._

"No." 

_Did he just say that?_

Steve glanced over, his shoulder, but Bucky was still on his side, still looking asleep. 

"I wouldn't mind at all," came Bucky's soft voice after a while. 

Steve slowly rolled over and moved up behind Bucky, pausing for a moment. The omega's scent was doing so much to him, especially since they were lying right next to each other, in the same bed. Before he could stop himself or think twice, Steve wrapped an arm around Bucky's waist, moving so that he was right behind him. Bucky shifted in front of him, but if it was away from him or closer, Steve couldn't tell.

Bucky's scent was just too damn good, that all Steve wanted to do was bury his face in the other's neck and scent him for days.

So that's just what he did. 

Steve pressed his face into Bucky's neck and inhaled deeply, the rich scents of honey and vanilla fogging up his brain. He pressed impossibly closer to Bucky, as if he was trying to make them become one person. The scents went straight into his brain, then right downstairs. It should've felt dangerous, but the rational side of Steve's brain was overpowered by just _Bucky_ , so he didn't care. Looking back on it, he probably had his hard-on pressed into Bucky's back the whole time, or worse, his ass. 

Steve couldn't help adding in a little tongue, and soon he was practically licking up and down Bucky's skin. Bucky gasped beneath him, tilting his neck to allow more access to Steve. It wasn't until Steve started rubbing his face along Bucky's neck when he realized that blatantly scent marking him. But Bucky didn't seem to mind. 

Bucky's scent suddenly changed, turning into the unmistakable sweet tang of  _content omega._ That's when he started purring. 

Steve had never heard an omega purring before. It wasn't exactly like  _hearing_ it, more like  _feeling_ it. The vibrations ran through Steve's body, causing him to moan out loud. He felt his inner alpha bubble up to the surface and rumbled in response to the omega. He had never done anything like it before, but he had to admit, it felt  _amazing._

Bucky turned around in Steve's arms and stared up at him through lidded eyes. He was breathing heavily, and Steve didn't doubt for one minute that he was turned on. Bucky tilted his head back and  _finally, finally_ their lips connected in a kiss that was all teeth and tongue, nothing gentle. 

Steve let his fingers run firmly through Bucky's hair, pulling a little. The omega reached his hands up under Steve's shirt, feeling the hard muscle that made up his abdomen. Steve couldn't suppress his groan that escaped his lips. Everything was hot and fast and desperate but Steve didn't mind one bit. He could feel himself slipping further and further away, and he knew what would happen if he didn't stop. 

It took a huge effort, but he managed to pull himself out of his alpha and away from Bucky. The omega stared up at him, his mouth slightly open, a blissful expression on his face. Steve pressed a kiss to his forehead. He could feel the other's body trembling slightly beneath him, still on a high. Steve was also still completely hard, but he tried to think of over things to calm himself down. He could smell the obvious omega arousal in the air and bit his lip, not exactly sure what to do about it. But, he thought, if Bucky wanted him to do something, he probably would've spoken up. 

Bucky pressed closer to Steve, but just rested his head on the other's chest, breathing in deeply. Steve wrapped his arms around Bucky, sighing contently. 

They were silent for a moment, before Bucky spoke up. "I love you," he said, barely audible. 

Steve smiled in the dark. "I love you too, Buck," he replied. Bucky settled back down, wrapped up in Steve's arm, and Steve placed his chin on top of Bucky's head. They would probably both be sweltering hot when they woke up, but neither of them seemed to care about it. All they cared about was being in each other's arms. 

Steve opened his mouth and scented the air. The scents of  _content_ and  _happy_ omega were starting to overpower the scents of their different arousals. 

_He's come such a long way._

***

When Steve woke up the next morning to find Bucky no longer in his arms, he immediately panicked. He shot up out of bed, only to spy Bucky in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. He shot Steve an amused expression, raising an eyebrow. 

"You alright there?" he asked once he spit in the sink and washed his mouth out. 

"Yeah," Steve replied, chuckling and falling back into the bed. 

"C'mon, get up. We have a lot to do today, remember?" Bucky said, walking over and yanking the covers off Steve's body. 

"Hey!" he protested, but Bucky just grinned. 

"Last night was fun," the omega commented innocently, causing Steve's face to instantly turn red. 

"So I guess you're getting more...comfortable?" he said slowly. The honestly expected Bucky to lash out at him, but he just received a nod instead. Bucky sat down on the edge of the bed, right next to Steve and took a deep breath before saying, "I had to realize that you're not like the Hydra agents. You're different. You're...my true mate."

Steve leaned over a stole a kiss from Bucky's lips. "Thank you for trusting me," he murmured softly. Bucky smiled, then suddenly grabbed a pillow and smacked Steve in the head with it. 

"Oh my god Bucky, is this mission torture Steve?" he laughed, grabbing another pillow to block Bucky's next hit. 

Bucky smirked, bringing the pillow down again. "No but seriously, we should get going. It's nearly ten and we're supposed to be at the first house by noon."

"You started it!" Steve protested. 

***

After a nice breakfast at a nearby dinner, they finally got to the first house, the one in Manheim. There was an open house going on, and the place looked rather crowded, so Steve was glad that he and Bucky managed to get a private viewing of the house. Jane was in the kitchen, talking to another couple. She glanced up as they walked over to her, but didn't talk to them until she was done with the other couple. 

"I'm so glad you could make it back here today!" she said to Steve, smiling broadly. Steve gave her a rather fake smile in return. She still wasn't talking to Bucky. 

He and Bucky had decided over breakfast to put down offers on both houses, and see which ones they would get approved. When Steve told Jane, she nodded a little, and cast a glance over at Bucky, but it looked more annoyed than friendly. 

"I assume that you are already pre-approved by a lender?" she asked Steve, who nodded. 

"Home Direct has given us a loan of fifty thousand dollars and we want to put down an offer of four hundred and thirty thousand."

Jane's eyebrows raised, and Steve knew why. There probably wasn't a lot of people whom she knew in Pennsylvania who could pull three hundred and eighty thousand dollars out of their ass, but Steve's house would sell for more than their offer and he already was well-off after starting his own gym. 

Jane got them a purchase agreement, to which Steve filled out, signed, and then let Bucky signed. They handed it back to her, and she put it in her folder. 

"Thank you," she said, smiling. "I'll get back to you as soon as I run this by the home owners. There's not a lot of people who have put down offers, so my guess is that you'll have a pretty good chance of getting the house." 

"Okay, awesome," Steve replied. He was about to turn to go, before Jane asked him to write down the number of his real estate agent to run everything by her. When Steve bent over the kitchen table to scribble her phone number on a scrap piece of paper, Jane moved closer, too close for his liking, so that he could smell how much perfume she used. Steve tried not to gag and straightened up quickly, giving her a sharp nod and a "Thank you," before finally being able to leave. 

"Oh my god, was she trying to hit on you?" Bucky asked once they left to house, trying not to laugh. Steve chuckled. 

"I think she was," he replied. "Jesus, she was such a weird woman." Bucky laughed along with him, before saying in all seriousness, "Do you think our offer will be approved?"

"Probably. Like she said, there's only a few people who put down offers, and our offer was pretty close to the original price. I don't see why we wouldn't get approved."

Bucky nodded. "I really like that house, even if I don't like that real estate agent." 

"Just be thankful that she's not openly doing or saying anything bad to you." 

Bucky huffed and stared out the window. "I wish I could just say something to her, but I can't because I'm an  _omega."_

Steve swallowed hard as he pulled out of the street, driving to the other house. He wanted to say something to Bucky, but he didn't know exactly what. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Steve finally plucked up the courage to say, "I really wish you wouldn't say that. Just because society thinks that you're status is stupid, doesn't mean you should. Hell, I don't, and I'm an alpha! There's nothing better or worse about omegas, they're just built differently, that's all. Like, in the olden days, it was really the omegas who held the pack together. They were the ones raising up all the children, even if the pups weren't theirs. The betas were the rational thinkers, the ones who knew all the best choices to make. The alphas were the leaders, sure, but that was just because we're generally stronger than betas and omegas. It has nothing to do with us being superior or anything. Alphas are strong, betas are smart, and omegas are caring. You needed all of them back then to have a thriving pack. Now, there's no more packs so everyone disregards what the different statuses really are for."

Steve took a deep breath and continued. "I honestly wish we still had packs. Everything was so much more simple and there wasn't this omega discrimination that we see nowadays." 

"Wow," Bucky said, his voice quiet. "You've really done your research." 

Steve chuckled, trying to brighten the mood. "Yeah. One could call me an omega activist, I guess." It was something he had been passionate about ever since his mom died. He hated seeing how omegas were treated in the world, just like they were trash and only useful for sex. And he hated seeing an omega truly believe it. He knew that Bucky really didn't feel like he was useless, just that he couldn't speak up if he was uncomfortable because of what other could do. 

"Oh, and if you said something to the real estate agent about how rude she was being to you and she got mad at you, it would've been her fault, not yours. You have every right to do that, you know." 

Bucky shrugged and glanced out the window, resting his chin on his palm, signifying that the conversation was over. Steve sighed. He wished that Bucky wouldn't shut down like that, but he knew that if he tried to get him to talk, he would only get yelled at. 

After a very quiet car ride, they finally reached the other house, in Strasburg. Bucky perked up a little bit when they pulled into the driveway, which Steve nearly thanked the heavens for. He wouldn't be able to stand it if Bucky was moody for the rest of the day. 

There wasn't a whole lot of cars outside, so Steve hoped that there wouldn't be a lot of people trying to put down offers on this house, just like the last one. Both he and Bucky liked this house way more than the other one, although Steve knew that they wouldn't complain if they got the other one and not this one. 

Adrienne greeted them at the door, like she had seen their car pull up.

"Good afternoon," she said, smiling at both Steve and Bucky, a nice relief after Jane. "How are you two today?" 

"We're good, thank you," Bucky said, and Steve couldn't help the pride that swelled in his chest for no apparent reason other than Bucky  _talking_ to people. 

They walked into the kitchen, where three other couples stood, all hunched over the kitchen island or the dining room table, filling out pieces of paper that Steve assumed were purchase agreements. 

"This house had private showings only," Adrienne explained, keeping her voice rather low. "Everyone we showed it to had the intention of buying it. The home owners just thought it would be easier this way," 

She picked up a piece of paper from the kitchen island and handed it to Steve. "Have you been pre-approved yet?" she asked, leading them into the living room, away from the other couples. Everyone was talking in quiet voices, so it felt to Steve more like a library than an actual house. It felt very official, more official than Steve would've like. 

"Yes," Steve said. "Fifty thousand from Home Direct."

Adrienne frowned. "That's not a lot based on the asking price," she commented, and Steve bit his lip.

"Yes, well, we put down an offer on another house, one that doesn't cost as much, but we don't love it as much as this house. Because it was less expensive, Home Direct would only give us a maximum loan of fifty thousand. I guess they thought that if they gave us a loan based on the price of this house, but we ended up buying the other one, we wouldn't have really needed the extra money." 

"And you can pay the price of this house with only a fifty thousand dollar loan?" Adrienne questioned. Steve swallowed. He didn't want to make it seem like they were financially incapable because then Adrienne might not pick their offer, but if he acted like he could pay the asking price, Adrienne could not pick their offer anyway, thinking that they should've been able to pay more money if they really wanted the house. 

"Our offer is five hundred forty thousand," Steve said. Adrienne nodded, seeming to think things over for a few seconds, then handed Steve and Bucky the purchase agreement before walking over to talk to the other couples. 

Bucky shot Steve a confused look. "I thought we agreed on five hundred  _twenty_  thousand!" he whispered out accusingly. Steve shrugged, trying not to look at the omega as he quickly filled out the purchase agreement, awkwardly writing on the coffee table while crouched down. 

"I felt like if I said that, we wouldn't get it. That's pretty low, for an asking price of five hundred eighty."

Bucky huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. 

"C'mon, Buck, it's only twenty thousand more, and besides, look at everybody else," Steve hissed out, gesturing with his head behind them, where Adrienne was talking with a well-to-do-looking older couple, dressed in expensive looking clothes. "They can probably pay the asking price without a loan." 

Bucky sighed, rubbing his temples, then signed the agreement when Steve handed him the pen. 

"I just wish this process was a whole lot easier. I wish we could just get the house." 

Steve couldn't help but chuckle, and gently kissed Bucky's forehead. "We will get one of these houses, I promise."

***

After their trip to Lancaster County, the outskirts of New York City seemed like the world's dingiest place. They drove around in Lancaster after visiting the two houses, got to see more beautiful countryside, and ate lunch at the world's tiniest pizza parlor. They got back to New York at around seven in the evening, and slowly made their way into the house. 

"Well, that was an exciting two days, wasn't it?" Steve commented once they had made themselves salads and sat down at the tables. 

Bucky nodded, his mouth full of lettuce. "I never went anywhere else other than Brooklyn and Ohio before college," he mumbled around his food. "I went to Europe, but that was right before Hydra. I had a pretty boring life. My family and I never traveled anywhere." 

Steve had to admit, he was impressed. Bucky had really talked about his life before Hydra once, right after he had gotten his memory back. Steve had always figured that it was too painful to talk about. But Bucky being able to speak openly about his family now meant that he was getting better, slowly healing. 

"I've only ever lived in New York," Steve said. "Trust me, I'm way more of a boring person than you are." 

Bucky smirked. "I'm glad that you've finally realized that." 

"Was that your attempt at flirting?" Steve asked, laughing. Bucky shrugged, standing up and grabbing his now-empty plate from the table. 

"Maybe," he hummed, walking past Steve and into the kitchen to put his dish in the dishwasher. As he passed by, Steve couldn't miss the swing in the omega's hips and the way he flipped his hair out of his face. 

_Holy shit..._

Steve could feel his face grow hot and had to sit by himself at the table for a few seconds to collect himself before he could stand up. He had had a girlfriend before, a gorgeous beta named Peggy Carter. She was a year older than him, but went to the same college. They had only dated for about nine months, before he and Peggy split on good terms, deciding that they just weren't what they were looking for. Steve and Peggy had never been sexually intimate, although there were times when they were kissing that Steve had felt something spark within him, but it was defiantly not a strong as what he felt for Bucky was. Not even close. 

There were days when Steve could take one look at Bucky and feel a thrill run through him, even if the omega was doing nothing at all, just standing there. Steve guessed that it had something to do with the fact that Bucky was his true mate. And also probably because he was feeling some of the effects of his rut during those days. 

Steve took suppressants, like nearly every unmated alpha did, so that he didn't have to go through the three-to-seven day period of immensely increased sexual need- the need to claim, mark, and bite. The suppressants usually did an excellent job, except when sometimes some effects of his rut would poke through and Steve would find himself getting aroused at the littlest things. And it wasn't helping now that he was constantly around Bucky. 

Bucky was taking his own sweet time at the sink when Steve walked over. An oblivious person could say that Bucky was just washing his dish, but Steve could tell what he was doing. He back was arched, ever so slightly, but the action stuck his ass out towards Steve, who tried everything in his willpower not to stare  _right there._

Instead, he reached around Bucky, adding his plate to the sink. Bucky scoffed and rinsed off Steve's plate as well, before adding them to the dishwasher, bending over in an extreme way that wasn't needed in the situation. Still though, Steve wasn't complaining, not when he got to watch the way the fabric of Bucky's lounge pants stretch obscenely over the swell of his...

Steve shook himself and took a few steps backwards, not realizing that he had walked closer to Bucky. 

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" he asked, after gathering himself and clearing his throat. 

Bucky nodded, smiling. They made their way over to Steve's couch, Bucky grabbing a blanket that was defiantly  _not needed_ with how hot Steve felt right now. They chose  _Queen of Katwe_ to watch on Netflix, something that neither of them had seen before, and snuggled up together to watch it. 

For pretty much the entire movie, Steve was uncomfortable. The scent-enhancing soap that Bucky had put on last night hadn't worn off, leaving his scent still magnified. Plus, he was literally pressed up right next to Steve, so that the alpha was constantly immersed in the other's scent. Steve had his arm wrapped around Bucky's shoulders, whose head was resting on Steve's chest, and Steve honestly wanted to stay in that moment forever, even though he was so close to sporting an erection.

The movie ended, leaving him and Bucky cuddling up together on the couch with nothing playing. They were silent for nearly ten minutes, before Bucky spoke up. 

"Steve, I was wondering..." he trailed off, shifting uncomfortably and looking away from the other. 

"What is it, Buck?" Steve asked, trying to get Bucky to finish his sentence. 

"IwaswonderingifIcouldsleepinyourbedtonight," Bucky said in one breath. 

Steve tipped his head to side, unable to hide his smirk. "Where would I sleep, then?" 

Bucky playfully punched him in the arm. "Punk, I meant with you in your bed." 

Steve shrugged. "I don't see why not. We slept together last night." His inner alpha was nearly rumbling with happiness, that Bucky wanted to sleep with him again. 

They made their way upstairs, splitting for a short while so they could get ready in their respective bathrooms. Steve was done first, and didn't know what to do while he waited for Bucky. Tons of stupid questions ran through his mind.  _What side of the bed does Bucky want to sleep on? Should I already be in bed when he comes in? Is he going to let me spoon him again?_

As soon as he heard Bucky's footsteps down the hall, Steve dove for his bed, throwing back the covers and crawling into his bed. The door opened, and Bucky walked in, his hair tied back into a small bun at the bottom of his neck. He smiled softly at Steve and made his way over to the bed. Just as he was doing so, Steve realized that something was wrong. 

"Wait," he said, getting up. Bucky blinked. "What is it?" 

"Hang on for just a second," Steve said, walking swiftly out of his room to Bucky's, where he grabbed the top blankets off of his bed and brought them back to Bucky. The omega tipped his head, looking confused. 

"What are you doing?" 

Steve didn't reply, but arranged the blankets on top of the bed until he was satisfied. Bucky was already in bed, so Steve crawled in next to him, snuggling up close. Bucky smiled at him and chuckled a little. 

"Really, Steve?" he asked, but Steve's inner alpha swelled with pride. He could tell that Bucky liked it, and he was proud that he could make a nest for them. 

_A nest? What the hell? Where did that come from?_

He was too caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't realize that Bucky was leaning in until their lips were pressed together, soft and shy. Steve pressed back eagerly but let Bucky choose the pace, and eventually the kiss turned into something with much more force. They parted their lips and allowed their tongues to dance around each other for a while. Bucky broke off and kissed down to Steve's jaw, where two day's worth of stubble rested. 

Steve hummed and slipped his hands down to Bucky's waist, gently holding him. Bucky went down further still, kissing and licking all along Steve's throat. Steve let himself moan out loud, tilting his head back so that Bucky could have more access. Bucky was taking deep breaths, and Steve knew that he was shamelessly scenting him. It was rather unfair, Steve thought, since he couldn't do the same. 

Bucky paused right above the collar of Steve's shirt and whispered something that Steve couldn't exactly hear. 

"What was that?" 

"I said you need to take your shirt off  _right now._ "

Steve breathed out a swear and sat up quickly, tugging his old t-shirt above his head. As soon as he had taken it off, Bucky was suddenly on him, pushing him back down on the bed and straddling his hips. Steve stared up at him, his mouth open. Bucky had never been this adventurous before, but  _damn_ it was hot. 

He could feel himself getting hard, and he knew that Bucky could feel it too, with the way he smirked and leaned down, his lips hovering just above Steve's left collarbone. 

After a while, Steve managed to say, "Jesus, Bucky, you're killing me right now."

That seemed to be all it took for Bucky to start sucking on the skin of Steve's collarbone, leaving a very obvious dark bruise there. 

"Buck," Steve moaned out, his hands coming up to tangle his fingers in the omega's hair. Bucky trailed his own hands down Steve's chest, leaving tingles across the skin that he barley touched. 

"You're gonna kill me," Steve said, one hand gently massaging Bucky's neck. The omega only smirked and responded with, "Good." 

That's when he ground his hips down onto Steve's. 

Steve's hand flew down to Bucky's hips, itching to go down farther but not wanting to scare Bucky. Steve could tell that Bucky was aroused as well, just before the most sweetest scent that Steve had ever smelled filled the room. 

He couldn't even describe it. 

It was like Bucky's scent, just magnified by one hundred percent with a slight tang to it. It made him want to sneeze and come right then and there at the same time. His hips jerked up to meet Bucky's again, rubbing their arousals together  _just right._ They continued on with a brutally fast pace, grinding their hips together, Bucky supporting himself on top of Steve with his hands pressing into the alpha's chest, and Steve gripping onto Bucky's hips in a way that would  _defiantly_ leave bruises. 

It took only a short time for Steve to realize what would happen if they would keep going. 

"Shit, Buck. I'm going to...going to...if you don't stop..." Steve panted, his hips jerking upward insanely. 

Bucky smirked. He almost looked like he was dancing, with the way his pelvis moved downwards just as Steve's went up. "Really? Already?" he hummed out, bending down so that his lips were just centimeters from Steve's. 

Steve didn't think twice, just grabbed Bucky's face with both of his hands and brought their lips smashing together. At the same time, he let himself go with one more jerk of his hips. He could tell that Bucky was doing the same thing, from the way his body went rigid and he gasped into the kiss. 

Bucky collapsed against Steve, panting hard. Steve wrapped his arms around his waist and buried his nose into the omega's neck. That's when Steve finally realized what the tangy scent was: slick. 

Bucky had slicked. 

Steve found himself smiling into Bucky's skin. Not only was Bucky healing mentally, he was healing physically as well. If his slick had come back, that would mean that his heats weren't too far behind, right? 

At least, Steve hoped so with all his heart. 

He wanted nothing more for he and Bucky to be together forever. 

Steve gently rolled them over so that he and Bucky were both laying down, facing each other. Bucky had his face still buried in Steve's chest, still panting hard. Steve stroked the omega's hair. 

"I love you," he murmured quietly. 

"I love you too," Bucky replied almost immediately, and Steve smiled to himself. 

They fell asleep like that, tangled up in each other's limbs, the scents of alpha and omega arousal still in the air. 

***

**July 2018**

June morphed into July, bringing a whole new set of problems. Steve and Bucky's real estate agent had contacted them with a couple offers that people had put down on their house along with descriptions of what the people were like. The choice was rather easy, they would sell their house to two young female betas who were expecting their first pup and need a good house to settle down in. They left a good price as well, five hundred eighty thousand, while the asking price of the house was six hundred ten thousand. Another couple had put down an offer closer to the asking price, but according to the real estate agent, they seemed like very suspicious people that probably wouldn't be good to work with. 

The whole selling process went a whole lot quicker than Steve anticipated, leaving Steve and Bucky with three weeks to move out of their house and into a new one. 

Which would've been fine, except for the fact that they didn't exactly have a house to move into.

Neither Jane nor Adrienne had gotten back to them, leaving both Steve and Bucky rather worried. Steve kept trying to reassure them that it was going to be fine, they could just live into a motel hotel or a motel until they were able to buy a house. And if they didn't get either one, so be it. They would just keep looking until they found one. 

In the meantime, Steve's birthday rolled around. He was twenty-six now, only four years away from being thirty. His birthday was on the Fourth of July, meaning that he got to eat birthday cake  _and_ watch fireworks. A pretty damn good birthday, if you asked him. 

All of his friends surprised him with a party the afternoon of his birthday. Earlier, Bucky had dragged him out on probably the longest walk of his life. He had been complaining about his sore feet and empty stomach, but then realized when he turned around after everyone jumped out, shouting "Surprise!" and saw the glint in Bucky's eyes that he had helped to plan the party and had kept Steve away long enough. 

So many people showed up; Sam, Natasha, Tony,(dragging along Peter), Rhodey, Thor, Scott (with a wild story of how he narrowly escaped prision...again), Victor and Wanda (bringing along Thomas and Will), Bruce, and finally Clint and his mate Laura, and their three pups. 

Thor brought over giant pieces of meat and slapped them on Steve's grill which he hadn't used in probably a year, since his last birthday party. While Steve chatted with Tony about moving to Pennsylvania and Tony's company, he couldn't resist glancing at Bucky every now and then. He looked so content, laughing and talking with Laura, Wanda, and Peter. He was holding one of Wanda's pups (Steve didn't know which one, they were identical twins, for crying out loud) and bouncing him gently up and down on his knee. Steve found himself smiling. Bucky was just so natural with pups. Steve couldn't wait until he was reunited with Oliver again...

"Steve? Hello, Steve? Are you listening to me?"

Steve shook himself out of his own thoughts and turned to face Tony again. 

"Er...sorry, what?" 

Tony rolled his eyes. "Jesus Steve, you were just openly staring at your boy toy for like a solid five minutes." 

Steve felt his face grow warm. "He's not my boy toy!" he objected, but Tony just nodded his head.

"Uh-huh. Sure. Just like Peter's not mine."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Have you two done it yet?" he asked, lowering his voice. 

"Not yet." Tony raised raised his cup full of beer to his lips and took a sip. "He wants me to meet his aunt and get her blessing first. We've talked about it, sure, but he wants to do it the proper way."

"Jeez. He must be really somethin' in you're willing to wait to meet his aunt."

"What can I say? I'm a classy man." 

Steve scoffed. "Classy my ass." 

"Shut up, man," Tony said, chuckling a little and waving Steve off. "Anyway, what's goin' on with you and your omega? Are you two going to mate yet or what? I'm gettin' second hand anxiety here, Steve." 

Steve shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "He's not my omega, Tony. We're not mated yet and even if we were, he wouldn't want to be called  _my omega._ He wants to be my equal, and I support him." 

"Jesus Christ, I forgot about how you're such an omega activist," Tony muttered, drinking from his cup again. Steve frowned. 

"You're sayin' that like it's a bad thing, Tony," he said. "Just wait until you and Peter mate. You'll have to learn that a relationship with an omega isn't just about sex." 

Tony froze, giving Steve a look that was almost a glare. "I know a relationship isn't just about sex. There's way more to Peter than just his looks. He's caring and sweet and honestly funny. And he's smart, smarter than me, even. God, I wish you would stop treating me like I abuse omegas or something. Just because I actually act like an alpha doesn't mean that I take it for granted."

Steve scoffed again, this time with malice. "Whatever, man," he said, dismissing it, but what Tony said about him being an actual alpha stung. Steve knew that he never acted like a stereotypical alpha. He opened doors for omegas, gave up his seat for old people, and beat up bullies. "Normal" alphas wouldn't do any of those things, according to people like Tony, who thought it was still the 1950s. 

Steve was thankful when Sam and Thor interrupted their conversation with Sam laughing hysterically about Steve needing to hear Thor's joke. The rest of the evening was amazing, ending with them all driving up to New York City to watch the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks from afar. Steve's night only got even better when Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve's waist and leaned in close, his amazing scent washing over Steve. 

"Happy birthday, Steve," he hummed, leaning up to press a kiss against Steve's lips. 

***

As the days drew closer to when Steve and Bucky would need to be out of their house, Steve found himself getting more and more stressed. They had packed up nearly everything that they could in their house, with the exception of plates, clothing, and other daily things. Steve had officially quit his job, transferring the complete ownership of his gym over to Ben Maccarthy. He had started looking for jobs as a fitness trainer around Lancaster, and had found a few promising ones. He had arranged a couple of job interviews the weekend after he and Bucky were supposed to be out of their house, which he was starting to find was probably a bad idea, seeing as they would want more time to settle in. 

The results for Bucky's DNA test came back, positive of course. The next step would be for the A.A.B.P. to check Steve's background to make sure that he would qualify to adopt Oliver. Steve could only cross his fingers and hope that nothing would go wrong. 

During the second week of July, Steve found himself on the phone with Adrienne Gonzáles, who delivered them some shocking news. Apparently, the homeowners were thinking strongly about taking another couple's offer. They had a much larger loan from a bank and were willing to pay closer to the asking price than Steve and Bucky. 

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Rogers," she said. "I know how much you wanted this house."

Steve composed himself and told her that it was fine, they had place down another offer on a different house, and ended the call. He hadn't been sure that they could've gotten that house anyway, so it shouldn't have been as much as a shock as it was. When he told Bucky, the omega looked crushed, but said, "Well, the other homeowners  _have_ to pick our offer then." 

They didn't. 

Steve received the news from Jane via email, thankfully, because he didn't think he could've stood it if she called him. The homeowners had chosen another couple whose offer had actually been less than Steve and Bucky's. Steve knew why. It was Jane, of course, who probably told the homeowners how weird they were, making it seem like they were bad people who didn't deserve the house. 

So Steve and Bucky would officially be homeless in a week. 

Steve couldn't believe it. Almost immediately, he started looking at more houses in Pennsylvania, frantically emailing real estate agents and asking if they could have a private showing. Only two out of six homeowners responded in the week, both saying no, they couldn't. 

Bucky was quiet for the majority of the week, anticipating what could probably happen. Steve could only hug him at nights and try to convince him that they were  _not_ going to live out on the streets, and that everything was going to be okay.

The official move out day was Saturday, July twenty-first. 

Steve was starting to panic. 

 

Then a miracle happened. 

On the Tuesday night before the move out day, his phone rang. He didn't recognize the number, but picked it up anyway. 

"Hello?" 

"Hi, Mr. Rogers, it's Adrienne Gonzáles."

"Oh, hi, Adrienne, how's it going?" Steve asked, trying to keep his breathing under control. Could there have been a mistake with something? 

"The strangest things happened Sunday night. The couple whose offer the homeowners approved suddenly chickened out and said that they didn't want the house after all. They had no reason, other than they just suddenly didn't want to. The homeowners made a quick decision and have approved your offer. The house is yours, if you still want it."

Steve could barely breathe. "You're serious?" 

"Of course I'm serious."

"Oh my god, you have no idea how amazing this is! We didn't manage to get the other house, but we sold our current one, and the move out day is Saturday, so we would've had no house if the other people hadn't suddenly canceled."

"Well, it's a good thing they did so, I guess. And you're in luck. We already went through most of the motions on our side of the paperwork with the other couple, all we have to do now is to change the name of the new owners of the house and then you just have to fill out your paperwork and then the house is yours!"

After a few more "Oh my god"s and "thank you"s from Steve, they hung up, and Steve couldn't have been more happy. 

***

Everything went so smoothly, Steve couldn't believe it. Filling out the paperwork was surprisingly easy, although the loan was estimated to be funded the day after the move out day. But thankfully, the buyers of Steve's house were willing to wait one extra day. 

Bucky and Steve were in heaven. They were finally getting the house of their dreams, in the place of their dreams. Everything was perfect. 

Finally, finally, finally, Sunday came, and Steve found himself and Bucky packing up the last of their belongings into Steve's truck and driving the two-and-a-half hour drive down to Pennsylvania for probably the last time. 

Sam dropped by, just before they left, to wish them good luck and to promise to visit soon. Steve was torn that he would be moving away from his friend, but at the same time, he would be moving closer to Clint Barton and his family, who lived in southern Pennsylvania. 

Steve and Bucky were euphoric during the drive. They got there about an hour before their moving truck, so they got to walk around the whole house, planning out where everything would go. They needed to buy just a few more pieces of furniture, like some bar stools for the kitchen island and one or two comfy chairs for the extra room by the garage, but other than that, everything seemed fine. 

"I don't like the color of the walls in the master bedroom and bathroom, though," Bucky said while he stood in the room, staring at the walls intensely. 

"Oh, yeah? What color do you like?" Steve asked, walking up behind him and wrapping his arms around his waist. Bucky leaned back into Steve, sighing. 

"I'm thinking dark blue." 

"Dark blue?" Steve echoed. 

"Yeah. Like navy. And maybe we can get some beige curtains for the windows, too. And a new blanket for the bed." 

Steve's alpha couldn't help but preen at the way Bucky said "the bed," not just "your bed." He and Bucky had been sleeping together every night now. Most nights, they went to sleep almost immediately, cuddled up together and basking in each other's scents. But there were two nights when they had episodes like the first night back from Pennsylvania. Steve was proud that Bucky was getting more comfortable in his body and slowly forgetting what Hydra did to him. During those times, Steve let Bucky completely take over, doing whatever made him feel comfortable and safe. Steve didn't want Bucky to think that he was like all the other alphas, although he suspected that Bucky never would. 

Once their furniture finally came, Bucky was the one to direct the movers, telling them exactly where to put things. Steve had to admit, Bucky was amazing with it and knew where to put everything. The movers finally left, however, leaving Bucky and Steve with tons of boxes. They decided to leave those to open tomorrow, and went to bed, happy and ecstatic for life in their new home. 

It took some to get used to the new house. The master bedroom looked so strange at night that Steve laid awake in bed for nearly an hour before he could finally fall asleep. It was also weird to wake up and walk right out into the living, dining, and kitchen area, although it was better for Bucky, who could go straight to the coffee machine to make his morning cup. For the first day, it felt more like a single story house than a two story, just because they had no reason to go up to the second floor. After a few days of Steve going up to the second floor to the bonus room to work out, it felt more like a two story. 

Steve felt very confident coming out of his interviews at gyms on Saturday. They were all in the morning, leaving the afternoon and evening to do whatever Steve and Bucky wanted, which of course, was paint the master bedroom, the extra room behind the garage, and Oliver's room. Bucky had tons of great ideas for Oliver's room. He wanted to paint it a nice, neutral green color and the attached bathroom a calming yellow. They had bought a toddler bed for Oliver, and cozy gray patterned blankets. Since Bucky had no clue what Oliver would like or dislike, he just went with neutral colors. They had bought him so many different toys and stuffed animals for him to play with. Bucky spent hours arranging Oliver's room, even though he wasn't even going to arrive that month. 

It took them a week to get everything in their house perfectly fine. They still hadn't unpacked everything in the boxes, but just shoved the half-empty boxes in the basement with the promise of "doing it later."

On their second Wednesday of living in Pennsylvania, Steve found out that he had gotten a job as a fitness trainer at LA Fitness. Bucky and Steve couldn't have been more happy. They were starting a new life with each other, especially for Bucky, who had to have come such a long way to be finally free from Hydra. 

As July slowly transitioned into August, they found themselves anxiously awaiting the arrival of Oliver. Days were starting to get boring and seemed just like they did in New York City, with Steve going off to work and Bucky staying home. However, it wasn't uncommon for Steve to find search history of different job opportunities on his computer. After the third or fourth time of finding out what Bucky had been searching up while he was out, Steve took Bucky to Lancaster one weekend to walk around and see all the different shops. Bucky was especially drawn to the Amish ones, and finally dragged Steve into a fabric store, which turned out to be a very great idea, seeing as they had a giant "Help Wanted" sign on the wall above the checkout. 

But still, the days dragged on and Steve found himself wondering if the A.A.B.P. had found something wrong with his history that had put a halt on Oliver's adoption process. The only thing Steve could think of was the records of abuse from his father towards him and his mother, but he didn't think that that would be such a big problem, since it hadn't impacted his mental or physical well-being later in life. 

However, around mid-August, the phone call that Steve and Bucky had been waiting for for nearly three months finally came. 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve and Bucky's new house: 

The front of the house, pretend that there's a porch roof and the awkward stairs aren't there. 

View right when you walk in the door and turn slightly left. 

Living room and dining room.

Living room, dining room, and kitchen. 

Kitchen. 

View from the door to the master bedroom. 

Master bedroom. ;) 

More master bedroom. 

Master bathroom. 

Master bathroom into bedroom. 

Mudroom with laundry room and door to garage, at the back of the house behind the stairs. 

Extra room behind the garage and the attached half-bath. 

Upstairs hallway- view right when you walk up the stairs. 

And finally, the bonus room (door to the left in picture above), which Steve uses as a home gym. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, I got a little excited and decided to make Bucky and Steve's house on a website called floorplanner (that's where I got the photos of their finished house). It's a really cool site if you're an architectural nerd like me.
> 
> P.S. By the way, I have nothing against Tony, I'm just writing him from Steve's perspective.
> 
> P.P.S. What is it with me and leaving a cliffhanger about phone calls?


	30. Bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Castles, they might crumble.  
> Dreams may not come true.  
> But you were never all alone.  
> Because I will always, always love you.  
> Clouds will raise up.  
> Storms will race in.  
> But you will be safe in my arms.  
> Rains will pour down.  
> Waves will crash around.  
> But you will be safe in my arms. 
> 
> -In My Arms by Plumb

Sunday, August 12, 2018. 

It's the date that's been seared into Bucky's head for the past week. He can't stop thinking about it, can't stop dreaming about it. He's written it down in all-caps, circled it, and drew tons of arrows pointing to it on the calendar that hung on the inside door of one of their cabinets in their new kitchen. 

It's the day he's going to take his pup home forever. 

Oliver. 

Bucky had thought about changing his pup's name into something he and Steve liked, but in the end of the day, Bucky just can't do it. He knows that Oliver's other parents probably chose it for some family reason, because they didn't seem like the kind of people who would choose a name for its meaning, but Oliver's three years old now, and changing a toddler's name would be very problematic. 

Besides, it means fruitfulness, beauty, dignity, and peace, all good, happy things. Anyway, a really adorable nickname can come out of it- "Ollie."

Bucky had already been fantasizing about his pup from the day he heard from Steve that Fury had found him, way back in their old house. He had seen a picture of him, but it was in black and white and taken when he was a newborn. But Bucky could make out clearly his cute button nose and his light-colored hair, which would randomly occupy his thoughts every once and a while. Bucky couldn't get his pup's scent out of his head, either- sharp cinnamon, so tangy and amazing. Nearly every day, Bucky found himself in Oliver's room, adjusting things even the slightest bit, wanting to make sure that everything was perfect. 

That's where Steve would find him when he would come home from his new job, in Oliver's room, muttering under his breath that "things aren't in the right place." Steve would normally just stand outside the room, leaning up against the wall and watching Bucky, but one evening, he decided to intervene. 

"Bucky," he said softly, stepping into the room. The omega jerked his head up from where he was fixing the bedsheets for the  _millionth_ _time._ He tipped his head to the side, showing that he was listening, but then went right back to what he was doing. 

Steve sighed and walked over, gently holing Bucky's hands so that the omega had to stand up and face him. 

"You need to stop obsessing over this. It's looks fine," he said in a calming voice. Bucky frowned. 

"But what if he doesn't like it?"

"He's a toddler, Bucky."

Bucky eventually allowed Steve to lead him away from Oliver's room and into the kitchen, where they would make dinner, which was simply heating up a lasagna Steve had bought on his way home from work.  

Bucky and Steve sat down at the kitchen island, eating silently. 

"What if he doesn't remember me?" Bucky blurted out, voicing a fear that had been occupying his thoughts lately. 

Steve glanced over at him. "He's going to remember you, Buck. You're his father. You're not something he's going to forget." 

Bucky poked at his lasagna with his fork. "But...he was...separated from me at such an early age, just when he was born. And then he was given to different parents, one who raised him like he was  _their_ son." 

Steve was silent for a moment before he said, "You still remember his scent, don't you?" 

Bucky nodded slowly. "Then I have no reason to see why he won't remember yours. It's instinct. Omegas and their pups can remember each other's scents for the rest of their lives, if there's nothing wrong with their brains. It's how we survived, a long time ago, when there were packs."

Bucky bit his lip. "But what if he doesn't want to live with us? What if he wants to stay at the orphanage or go back with his other parents?"

Steve stood up, grabbing his plate and Bucky's, leaning down to give his boyfriend a gently kiss on the head. "Stop overthinking everything," he said with a gently smile. "Things are going to be alright. Trust me." 

He walked over to the sink to wash the dishes, leaving Bucky siting, hunched over on the barstool. Too many thoughts were running through his head. He  _wanted_ to believe that Steve was right, that he was just overthinking everything and that things would go smoothly, that Ollie would want to live with him and Steve and be a family. 

_Family._

That was something that Hydra had robbed from Bucky, but here he was, about to have a new family. He could never get his old family back, of course, with his mother, and father, and sister, but he could create a new one, with Steve and Oliver. 

Steve started to hum quietly as he washed the dishes. A smile tugged at the corners of Bucky's lips. Even though his family right now only consisted of Steve, he like it. He like  _Steve._ And was Bucky ready to believe Steve over his own stupid thoughts? 

He sure as hell was. 

***

**August 2018**

After two weeks of worrying and obsessing over Oliver, Bucky was grateful when, in the middle of a Saturday, the doorbell rang and he opened up the door to reveal Wanda, Laura, Peter, and Natasha. 

Bucky blinked, surprised. 

"What's going on?" he asked. 

It was Natasha who spoke up. "Get in loser, we're going shopping," she said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at her sleek, black car. When she was met with blank stares, she threw her hands up and exclaimed, "God! Have  _none_ of you watched Mean Girls?" 

"Hey, I only watch whatever my kids watch now," Laura said. "I haven't had a break in  _years."_

"Exactly why we're doing this. Because we all need a break. Grab your money or something, Barnes, I meant it when I said we're going shopping." 

She really  _did_ mean it, Bucky found out as Natasha pulled into Park City Center, the biggest mall in Lancaster County, and all five of them had piled out of her car. During the ride, Bucky found out that Natasha had driven Wanda and Peter all the way down from New York to Pennsylvania just so that they could all spend time together. After Steve's birthday party/Fourth of July, they had all become good friends and talked occasionally. 

Wanda first dragged them into Abercrombie and Fitch, claiming that Peter needed a new pair of jeans. Bucky had to laugh at the look on the poor kid's face as Natasha pulled him over to the skinny jeans section. 

"But these are all like one hundred-and-twenty dollars!" he hissed out, looking embarrassed. 

"Yes, are your boyfriend's a billionaire," the beta shot back, her hands on her hips. "He gave you a credit card, yes?" 

Peter had to admit defeat once Natasha held up a pair of dark blue skinny jeans that looked like they would fit him perfectly. 

"Go try them on," she instructed him. "And then show me. I want to see!" 

Bucky found himself wandering a little ways away, a little awkward because nobody else followed him. Laura was checking out their women's flannels and Wanda was examining a pair of black heeled boots. Thankfully, there weren't a lot of other people in the store, so Bucky wandered over to the jeans. He really  _did_ need a new pair. He only had three, seeing as when it was winter, most of the time he was just wearing Steve's pajamas or extra pants. 

He found himself looking more at the men's skinny jeans, feeling drawn to a certain light blue pair. He had just picked them up when, "Bucky! I need your input."

Natasha grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the changing rooms, along with the pair of jeans. She marched into one of the rooms, startling Peter. 

"What do you think?" she asked, gesturing at the omega in front of them. 

Bucky blinked. "What do I think about what?" 

"God,  _men._ You're all so stupid. The jeans, idiot." 

"Oh. They look fine." 

"They're kind tight though," Peter said, wiggling around a little. 

"Yes, but you look great in them. I feel like if we go up a size, they'll be too loose. What do you think, Bucky?" 

"What's wrong with them being loose?" 

Natasha rolled her eyes. "It doesn't look good on...certain people," she said, gesturing to his own jeans, a smile creeping onto her face. 

Bucky gasped and put a hand on his chest, over exaggerating being shocked. "What are you trying to imply?" 

"What are these?" Peter broke in, plucking the jeans from Bucky's hands. He had forgotten that he was carrying them. 

Bucky shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I thought I might try them on or something." 

"Oh my god, yes," Natasha said excitedly. "Forget about you Peter, your fashion sense is fine, it's Bucky we need to worry about." 

"Hey!" 

"I'm serious, haven't you worn that shirt a million times now?" she said, pointing at the red Henley shirt Bucky was wearing. 

"It's my favorite shirt," he protested, but Natasha just shook her head. 

After nearly an hour, during which Bucky changed outfits probably twenty times, he, Peter, Natasha, Laura, and Wanda left the store with four bags between them. Peter bought the jeans that Natasha had made him try on, Wanda got a new pair of boots, Laura finally chose between the gray flannel shirt or the yellow one (she went with the yellow one) and Bucky was weighed down with two pairs of new skinny jeans and a casual button-down shirt. 

It wasn't until Laura dragged them all into Sephora when he realized just how exhausting shopping really was. 

***

"How was the mall?" Steve asked once Bucky had  _finally_ gotten back, tired and loaded down with bags. He collapsed on the couch with a groan. 

"Don't even get me started," he sighed, turning so that he could snuggle up with Steve, who was watching a TV show. Steve put his arm around Bucky and pulled him close. 

"Did you already eat?" 

"Yeah. Food court pizza. Wasn't as bad as I thought."

"Mmm." 

Bucky glanced at the TV. Some game show on, and Steve was watching it intensely. 

"What is this?" 

"Family Feud. It's really good."

Bucky half-watched it, laughing only when Steve got mad at the people on TV because they couldn't get the obvious answer. He was just too tired from a day full of excited women and walking, and Steve just smelled too good...

"Are you gonna fall asleep on me?" Steve asked, chuckling. Bucky smirked and buried his nose in his boyfriend's neck, breathing in deep, the scent of leather and  _home._

"Guess so," he sighed. 

***

Bucky couldn't sleep. At all. 

It was three in the morning currently, but he had woken up at half past one and stared at the ceiling for an hour and a half. His heart was beating too fast, too many thoughts running through his head. 

It was officially August 12th. 

The day he and Steve would bring Ollie home. 

The alpha was currently sleeping with his back to Bucky, who knew that he could only really get more than two hours of sleep if he and Steve were curled up together, but he didn't want to wake him up. 

Eventually, Bucky managed to roll out of bed. Steve shuffled a little bit, but didn't wake up. Bucky tiptoed into the kitchen and grabbed a glass, filling it up with water, leaning up against the kitchen island to drink it. In just four hours, he and Steve would make the drive up to Albany to meet Bucky's son. His pup. 

Bucky's eyes watered as he placed his now empty glass in the sink. He scrubbed a hand down his face and, before he knew it, his legs were carrying him up the stairs and into Ollie's room. He sat down on a squishy, gray armchair that he and Steve had bought on a last thought, staring off into the distance. 

What would his life be like once Ollie came home? 

Hopefully, so much better and fulfilling than it already was. 

Would Ollie accept him? More importantly, would Ollie accept Steve? 

_Shit._

Bucky had never really thought of that before. He ran his hands through his hair, tugging lightly at the long strands. It was a habit he had found himself doing lately whenever he was stressed. His hair was so long, brushing just past his shoulders. He would need to get it cut soon, not too short, maybe to his jaw or something, but short enough that it wouldn't be such a bother anymore. It was always falling in his face and it took too long to dry when he got out of his showers. 

Steve wasn't Ollie's biological father, although he would be his father legally. Bucky knew that he didn't want to keep it from his pup, because Ollie would probably find out later in his life, which would lead to a very difficult situation, but Bucky had heard many stories before about step fathers and their step pups. 

Bucky could only pray that Ollie would love Steve like he was his real father, and Bucky like he had known him his entire life. 

Bucky didn't realized how long he stayed up in Ollie's room, until he glanced at the clock on the wall (which glowed in the dark) to find that it was nearly four. Even though he was exhausted, he didn't think he could fall back asleep. He was too nervous. 

"Buck?" 

Bucky glanced up, startled, as the broad frame of Steve padded softly into the room. Bucky hadn't heard him come up the stairs. 

"What're you doin' here?" Steve mumbled, sounding tired. When Bucky didn't respond, Steve pressed on, "I woke up an' you weren't in bed."

Bucky glanced away, which was stupid, since it was dark, and the alpha couldn't see him cry. Bucky knew that he could smell the change in Bucky's scent, however, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that Steve could  _feel_ it, as if they were already one. 

Wordlessly, Steve walked over to the armchair and kneeled beside it, wrapping his arms around Bucky. The omega buried his head in his boyfriend's shoulder and cried silently, shaking ever so slightly. 

Steve rubbed his back, his scent eventually calming Bucky down. 

"What's up?" Steve asked, his voice low. 

Bucky shook his head. "I don't know if I can do this," he whispered, and Steve seemed to know exactly what he meant. 

"I know you can. You've been waiting for this forever, Buck. He's going to remember you, he's going to accept you, and he's going to love you. I promise you he will. I know it."

Bucky bit his lips. "But-"

"But what?" 

Bucky stared up at Steve, who's just smiling down at him, his arms still around him. Bucky felt like crying again. 

"God, what did I do to deserve you?"

Steve opened his mouth to say something, but Bucky cut him off. "No, I really mean it. What  _did_ I do? You're always so caring, so understanding, like you know what exactly I need to hear when I need to hear it. You do stuff behind my back, sure, like calling Fury to find my pups, but it always turns out for the better. You've stuck with me for this long, when nobody else probably would have. I'm a broken omega. I'm probably not going to be able to go into a heat again, I've been used, God, I  _still_ sometimes have nightmares, and yet you're still here. You-"

Bucky tried to say the words, but his voice failed him just at that moment. He swallowed hard and tried again, "You deserve a better omega than me, Steve." 

They were silent for a long moment. Bucky was almost ready to get up and make his way back downstairs, but then Steve spoke up. 

"You need to get those thoughts out of your head, Bucky. I don't want a better omega, hell, I don't think there even  _is_ a better omega. You're perfect in every way, Bucky, I just wish that you could see that. All those things you think are wrong with you aren't actually wrong with you. They're things that are the result of actions that others have done against you, but they don't define you. You're not broken at all. Hell, if you really were broken, you wouldn't be able to sit here and talk to me. You've come along way from when I first met you- you remember everything, you're actually not trying to kill me, and you're so much healthier. As for you not going into heat yet, I couldn't care less. Sure, it's a plus if you are able to, but I'm not about to break up with you just because you can't. I know we'll still be able to mate even if you don't go into heat. 

"You need to understand this, Bucky: I'm not going to leave you now nor will I ever. I'm with you 'till the end of the line." 

Bucky glanced up at Steve after his long speech, staring into the alpha's eyes. He looked completely serious. 

"'Till the end of the line?" he echoed, tilting his head to the side.

Steve offered him a soft smile. "Yeah, Buck," he said, gently holding the back of Bucky's neck and lowering his head to press their lips together in a sweet kiss. 

***

The drive up to Albany was two hours longer than the drive to New York City, making it nearly five hours complete with bathroom and food stops. It wasn't Bucky's favorite ride, seeing as the majority of it he spent nervous for what was about to come, and nothing could help him, not even Steve's 40s music playing softly in the background. 

The A.A.B.P.'s Albany branch was a simple, three-story building that looked like an apartment building. There was no large sign or anything on the outside of the building for you to be able to tell from afar what it was, just a small sign with the words  _American Agency for Bred Pups, A.A.B.P., Albany_ just to the left of the main entrance. 

It suddenly hit Bucky, as he and Steve were walking up to the building, that there were enough breeder omegas in the world who were getting their pups taken away from them for there to be an agency who found their pups and fostered them until they could get permanent homes. 

The inside of the building was nondescript, with light brown wallpaper covering the walls of the entrance and some photos of people hanging up whom Bucky assumed were the founders of the A.A.B.P. There was a receptionist desk on the wall opposite of the doors, making Steve and Bucky walk through the whole entrance room. About half way through on the left side were two elevators, and on the right there were double doors which Bucky assumed led into some rec rooms for the pups. 

_Pups. His pup._

Bucky took a deep breath. His pup was in the same building as him right now. 

The receptionist glanced up as Bucky and Steve walked over to her, taking off her glasses. She looked like any receptionist, possibly in her 30s, blonde, attractive, wearing a pencil skirt and a blazer. 

"How may I help you gentlemen?" she asked. 

Steve spoke, because Bucky didn't think he could've even if he wanted to. 

"We're Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, we're here to take home one of the pups here-Oliver?" 

The receptionist typed something on her computer, and nodded. "Of course," she said. "One o'clock appointment with Phil Coulson?" 

Steve nodded, and she pointed to the double doors behind them. "Just go right through those doors, and you'll find yourself in a waiting room. I'm going to check you in and alert Mr. Coulson, so he'll come and find you when he's ready."

Steve thanked the woman and Bucky followed him, wordlessly and nervous, through the doors and into a comfy room that reminded him of a room from a nursing home. He sunk into the plush couch next to Steve, his heart pounding. 

Just yesterday, they had gone out and bought Oliver tons of clothes. They assumed that the A.A.B.P. would have already given him some, but they wanted to make it feel like he was truly  _his._ Bucky had brought along a bag with a change of clothes for Oliver (including shoes), a blanket with little elephants on it that Steve insisted they  _had to have_ , and a lunchbox with all sorts of snacks, like goldfish, yogurt cups, and a little container of strawberries. Bucky had probably overdone it, but they were looking at a four-in-a-half hour car ride and he wanted to make a good first impression on his son. 

"You okay?" Steve asked gently, rubbing Bucky's thigh in soothing circles. Bucky leaned into his boyfriend, taking a deep breath. 

"Yeah," he responded, "This is just...too real." 

Steve nodded, wrapping an arm around Bucky's shoulders. They stayed like that for nearly fifteen minutes, until the double doors opened again, and a man stepped in. 

He looked pretty short, defiantly shorter than Steve and maybe even Bucky, with receding, brown hair. He was wearing a suit and tie and looked very professional, although his hands were in his pockets and he looked rather relaxed. 

Steve stood up, offering his hand out to the man The other man took it, smiling up at the alpha. 

_Friendly, then. That's always good._

Bucky stood up as well, and found himself shaking hands with him next. 

"Hi, you must be Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes, I'm Phil Coulson, head of A.A.B.P.'s Albany branch."

 _Mr. Barnes._ Bucky bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from correcting Mr. Coulson. He hated it when people called him  _Mr. Barnes._ It made him feel old, and he was defiantly not old. He was only twenty-four!

"I just wanted to say congratulations on this whole thing. This is a huge deal. Not everyone can take their pups back." 

Bucky was impressed with him. He was extremely respectful, shaking Bucky's hand as well, and saying  _everyone_ instead of  _all breeders._

"Thank you," Bucky found himself saying, offering the beta a genuine smile. 

"Okay, here's what's going to happen," Phil said, clapping his hands together. "I'm going to take you two into our meeting room, it's kind of like this, except small and private. We use these meeting rooms because most of the time, bred pups are nervous about meeting their new parents and we've found that having them in smaller rooms kind of calms them down, because the scents of their new parents are stronger in smaller spaces. I'll be in there, supervising everything, along with your pup's therapist, a nice beta woman named Bethany Kim. I'll give you at least ten minutes to get comfortable in the room before I bring Oliver down. You'll meet, and then once you're all done, we'll go into my office where you, Mr. Rogers, can fill out the adoption forms and you two can alter his birth certificate to the ways you see fit. Is that alright?" 

Bucky nodded, unable to speak. 

_This is real. This is happening._

He swallowed hard, thankful when Steve slipped his hand into Bucky's giving it a light squeeze.

"It sounds perfect to us. Thank you so much, Mr. Coulson," Steve said. 

Phil waved his hand. "Just Phil is fine. This way, please." 

They were led into a corridor just off to the right of the room, where there were only doors on the right side of the wall. Phil opened up the second one from last and ushered Bucky and Steve into it. The room was brightly lit, from a large window and two floor lamps. The walls were a calm yellow color and there were two comfortable-looking couches and a large, leather armchair. There was a coffee table in the middle of the room with a vase of flowers in the center. Off in one of the corners stood a small table with a coffee machine, paper cups, a jug full of what Bucky assumed was creamer, and a box of tea bags. The room looked like somebody's living room. 

"Make yourselves comfortable," Phil said, glancing down at his watch. "I'll be back in ten minutes." 

He left, leaving the door slightly open. Bucky collapsed on one of the couches, taking in deep breaths. 

"Oh my god," he whispered, running a hand through his hair. 

"Hey," Steve said gently, kneeling in front of him. "You're going to do great. Ollie's going to love you."

"But-" Bucky tried, but Steve shut him up with a kiss. "I know this is nerve-racking, hell, I'm scared too, but really, what's the worse that could happen? Ollie could start crying? Well, he's going to have to go home with us anyway, and it can only get better from him hating us," Steve said, resting his forehead against Bucky's. 

"I love you," he murmured after a while. 

"I love you too," Bucky replied without hesitating, bringing his hand up to place it over Steve's and leaning into a kiss. The alpha's words helped somewhat, but Bucky's stomach was still rolling. 

They stayed like that for a little while, until a knock on the door cause them both to jump. 

"Knock, knock, I'm back." It was Phil. What meant-

Bucky stood up quickly, taking Steve off guard. He swallowed hard, staring at the beta, who offered him a small smile before stepping aside. 

A young woman walked into the room, with dark hair that came down to her shoulders and mono-lidded eyes. And holding her hand was...was...

_Oliver._

Bucky pressed his hands to his face, his eyes watering.

He had blonde hair and was wearing the cutest green polo shirt and khaki pants. HIs eyes were wide and he stared at Bucky and Steve as he walked into the room, tilting his head slightly to the side. 

_Oh my god._

_He's beautiful._

Slowly, Bucky lowered his hands and held his arms open, not really sure what he was doing. Suddenly, Oliver rushed forward to Bucky, dropping the woman's hand. Bucky bent down as his pup ran into his arms, wrapping him up tightly, never wanting to let go. 

Bucky buried his nose into Ollie's neck, scenting him deeply. He smelled like cinnamon, just like Bucky remembered, as well as something like nutmeg and hot apple pie. 

"Daddy?" Ollie squeaked out, and Bucky nearly felt like his heart was going to burst out of his ribcage right then and there. 

"That's right," he managed to say, "I'm your daddy." 

Ollie seemed to hug him tighter, burying his little face in Bucky's chest. Tears started to run down Bucky's face as he kissed the top of his pup's head. 

_Finally, finally, finally._

After what seemed like forever, Ollie drew back, placing his little hands on either side of Bucky's face, frowning a little. He was studying him, taking in Bucky's wet, gray eyes, his dark hair and his scent. 

"Daddy," he cooed again, happily. 

Bucky smiled and brought a hand up to wipe away his tears. "Hi, Ollie," he breathed out, still unable to believe that this was real. He gently placed his hands underneath his pup's armpits and lifted him up, placing him on his hip. He was a little heavier than Bucky expected, but nothing he couldn't handle. Ollie immediately wrapped his arms around Bucky's neck as Bucky turned so that they were facing Steve. 

The alpha had been watching them, standing some distance away to give them space, but now he moved close, smiling widely. Oliver's little nose twitched, and Bucky knew that he was trying to get Steve's scent. 

"Baby, this is my boyfriend, Steve," Bucky explained. 

Ollie tilted his head, his eyes growing wide. "Awe you my odder daddy?" 

Steve and Bucky exchanged glances. Bucky took a deep breath before saying, "No, baby, he's not. But Steve is going to adopt you, meaning that he's responsible for you, but he's not your real daddy."

"He's gowing to adowpt me?" Ollie echoed, and Steve nodded. "I am, Ollie," he clarified. 

Ollie seemed to think about that for a moment, and then said, "Can I cawl you my daddy?" 

Steve chuckled. "If you want, little man," he said, reaching a hand up to brush his fingers through Ollie's wavy hair. The pup caught one of Steve's fingers in both of his tiny hands and brought the alpha's wrist to his nose, sniffing deeply. Bucky couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. 

"No! I cawl you Papa!" Ollie said once he was done, still holding onto Steve's hand. 

"Okay, baby. He can be your papa," Bucky said softly. 

Ollie refused to let Bucky put him down, insisting that he be carried over to Phil's office. It was on the same floor, on the back side of the building. It looked like a typical office, with a large, wooden desk and three chairs in front of it. Bucky sat in one, with Ollie on his lap, and Steve sat in the chair next to his, their fingers intwined. 

They went right down to business, Phil handing Steve the adoption forms and explaining quickly what he needed to fill in and sign. 

"Whas dat," Ollie asked, pointing at the papers. 

"Those are adoption papers, baby. Steve's adopting you," Bucky responded, breathing in Ollie's scent once again. 

Bucky could only be so thankful that Steve had gotten those books on parenthood from the library and forced him to sit down and read them with him. He insisted that he was fine, saying, "It'll come to me; it's all natural," but he could honestly not see how he would've survived without them. The books had told him to always tell the truth to pups if they asked what something was, only just a very censored version of it. Without first reading the books, he would probably just had told Ollie not to worry about it, instead of telling him what the papers were actually for. 

"Papa?" Ollie said, tilting his head to the side. 

"Yes, Ollie, Papa." 

It took Steve nearly fifteen minutes to completely fill out the two sheets of paper. Steve had to complete the step-parent adoption papers because technically, that was what he was to Ollie. It was a little bit shorter than the general adoption papers and they didn't need to go to court in order to adopt Ollie, which would've only stretched the time to next year before they could've take Bucky's pup home and for that, he was thankful. Bucky didn't think that he would've been able to wait five more months. 

Phil next handed them a name change form for Ollie. There was no doubt at all that Ollie's surname was going to be changed from Davis to Barnes-Rogers. They had talked about his first name for some time, but Bucky eventually decided that he wanted to keep it the same, seeing as Ollie was a toddler and it would be hard for him to have a name change without any say in the matter. They had talked about his middle name for a while, Jacob, before finally deciding on changing that, as well, to George, after Bucky's father. 

Once they were done with the paperwork, Phil took the document back, and explained to them that they would be notified by email in the next few days once the documents got approved. 

"You guys are free to go now, although I do recommend Ollie saying goodbye to all his teachers and friends before you leave," Phil said, standing up and shaking Steve's hand again. Bucky got up as well, resting his pup on his left hip so that he could extend his right hand towards Phil to shake hands. 

"Thank you so much for everything," he said, smiling. 

"No problem," the beta responded. "It's what we do." 

"Do you want to say bye bye to your friends now?" Bucky asked Ollie gently, daring not to breathe and hoping that he had said the right thing. 

Ollie nodded, rubbing his eyes with his tiny fist and yawning widely. 

"Ms. Kim can show you to his different teachers if you would like. She's just outside," Phil said, holding open the door for Bucky and Steve to walk through.

The beta led them back out into the main entrance, where they stepped into a waiting elevator. "Most of the classes and rooms for the pups are on the second and third floors," Ms. Kim explained. "The first floor has all the offices and meeting rooms." 

"Baby, can you walk now?" Bucky asked Ollie once they reached the second floor. Ollie shook his head, but didn't object when he was placed on the ground, although he insisted for Bucky to hold his hand. 

"Wanna say bye-bye to Calvin," Ollie insisted, tugging a little on Bucky's hand and staring up at him. 

"Who's Calvin, baby?" Bucky asked, but it was Ms. Kim who responded. "Ollie's friend. He and Ollie shared a room."

She led them to Ollie's room, through a maze of hallways with identical doors that Bucky could get lost in. It looked like a children's hotel. Finally, however, they ended up at room 243, which can only be Ollie's room. It was rather small, but Bucky reminded himself that there had to be lots of rooms like these and to little pups, the rooms were probably very large. The walls were a nice, neutral pastel yellow, and there were several pieces of paper with scribbles covering them. There were two beds in the room, each one pressed up in the corners away from the wall. One of the beds was stripped bare, while the other one wasn't and occupied by someone. 

A little boy, who looked to be no more older than six or seven, was reading in the middle of the bed, his tongue sticking out between his teeth. He glanced up as Bucky, Steve, Ollie, and Ms. Kim entered the room. 

"Ollie!" he said, getting off of his bed. Ollie let go of Bucky's hand and ran over to the other boy, hugging him. 

"Calvin! Daddy and Papa awe taking me home!" he said, and the other boy smiled. They chatted for a while, about the book Calvin was reading about superheroes and about how they were going to miss each other. Ollie eventually decided that he wanted to say goodbye to his other friends, and dragged Steve, Bucky, and Ms. Kim around the floor. Apparently Bucky's three-year-old pup was more social than he ever was. 

Ollie burned out after his twelfth and last friend, yawning and rubbing his eyes and demanding to be picked up. 

"All of his possessions are already downstairs," Ms. Kim told them. "You just need to tell Ms. Maier, the receptionist, that you're taking Ollie home with you now." 

"Thank you so much," Steve said, shaking hands with her. Bucky managed too, somehow, awkwardly holding Ollie in one hand. She showed Steve and Bucky their way to the elevators, before leaving them to go on their way. 

Ollie fell asleep on the elevator ride, his tiny fist holding a strand of Bucky's hair. Steve pressed a kiss to the side of Bucky's head, wrapping an arm around him. 

"We did it," he whispered right before the doors opened. Thankfully, Ollie didn't have too much stuff, just two suitcases and a backpack, all of which Steve carried. He checked them out as well, so Bucky wouldn't wake Ollie with moving around too much and talking. 

They parked thankfully close to the building, only a block away. When Bucky was strapping Ollie into the carseat that they had bought the week before, the pup awoke, blinking up at Bucky. 

"Hey, baby. We've left already, and we're in the car now," he said, buckling the final buckle. Ollie nodded and glanced around the truck, kicking his little legs out. 

"Do you want a little snack? I have some goldfish," Bucky asked, reaching into the lunchbox that he and Steve packed ahead of time. Ollie nodded and accepted the snack, tearing into it almost immediately. Bucky smiled and pressed a kiss to the side of his son's head, saying, "You're welcome, Ollie."

He slid into the front seat, feeling like he was about to cry. 

He had Ollie again. 

And nobody was going to take him away this time. 

***

They got back home around dinner time, Ollie nearly leaning out of his seat to see the house. 

"Dat aw house? Dat aw house?" he nearly shrieked, pointing at it as they pulled into the driveway. 

Bucky glanced over at Steve and offered him a smile, thankful when the alpha understood what he meant. "Yeah, little man! That's our house," Steve said to Ollie, who clapped his hands in excitement. 

Ollie had probably never had a house to call his "home" before, Bucky realized, so this was completely new and different to the pup. 

"Do you want to take Ollie out of his car seat? I can grab the bags," Bucky murmured to Steve when they got out of the car. Steve raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I can take the bags inside." 

Bucky shook his head. "No really, take Ollie."

Bucky couldn't help but spy on his boyfriend as he gently unclipped the pup, talking to him about the big yard they had that Ollie could run and play in. Bucky smiled as he grabbed the first bag, a large duffel, which was heavier than he'd expected. He'd probably need to make two trips, but it was worth it to see Steve interact with Ollie. 

Steve held Ollie's hand as the pup marched up the stairs of the porch. Bucky followed behind them, holding the duffle bag. 

"Daddy!" Ollie cooed, making grabby hands at Bucky, but he shook his head. "No, baby, my hands are full!" 

Once Steve unlocked the door, Ollie took off inside the house, running straight into the living room and jumping on the couch. 

"Baby, be gently," Bucky said as he walked in, setting down Ollie's bag. Ollie giggled and dove head-first into on of the cushions. Bucky winced. He and Steve would really need to start buying cheap blankets and pillows to put in the living room so Ollie wouldn't hurt himself. 

"TV!" Ollie squealed, clapping his hands. 

"Not now, okay? We need to eat dinner first," Steve said, wrapping an arm around Bucky's waist. He pressed a kiss to the side of his head and murmured, "I'll go and get the rest of the bags, okay?" 

"You really don't need to," Bucky protested, but Steve just smiled and walked out into the car. Bucky gave one last glance at Steve before turning back to Ollie, who had now ventured over into the dining room and was trying to climb up onto one of the chairs. Bucky picked Ollie up and set him in his specific chair, one with a booster seat so that he would be more raised up. 

"Do you want some chicken nuggets and mac and cheese?" Bucky asked his pup, wandering over to the kitchen to pull the nuggets out of the freezer. 

"Yeah!" 

"You say yes, please, baby," Bucky instructed gently. He realized that Ollie's other, adopted parents probably wouldn't have had much time to teach him proper manners, so he would only be taught by the A.A.B.P. 

Steve returned back in, quickly running Ollie's bags upstairs. They already had some shirt and pants in Ollie's room for him to wear, but Bucky was thankful that the agency had given them Ollie's clothes, which he was already used to. 

After a dinner of chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and surprise broccoli for Ollie (Bucky had to convince Ollie that it would make him strong like Papa) and salads for Steve and Bucky, they showed Ollie his room. 

Bucky watched his pup's eyes grow wide when he first stepped into the room, staring around at the bed, the dresser, and the toy chest. 

"Mine?" he asked quietly and Bucky gently ruffled his hair. 

"Yes, baby, yours." 

Ollie gave an excited squeal and dove head first into his new bed, messing up the sheets and the perfectly arranged stuffed animals. Bucky smiled down at his pup. He was certain that Ollie probably had every kind of stuffed animal on the planet on his bed, and there were even more in his toy chest. He glanced behind him to Steve, but found that the alpha wasn't there. Bucky frowned and poked his head out on the hall, spying Steve in the spare bedroom, rummaging through the boxes that they hadn't unpacked yet that they had placed there for the mean while. 

"What'cha doing?" Bucky asked, walking over to the alpha. Steve didn't reply, but kept digging in the box until he found what he was looking for. It was a little lion stuffed animal, old-looking and worn down, its fur a faded yellow. 

"What's that?" Bucky asked. 

"My favorite stuffed animal from when I was a kid," Steve explained quietly. "I loved it so much that I promised myself I was going to save it for my own pups one day, and well..."

Bucky smiled up at Steve and reached up, tugging Steve down to his lips. 

"Daddy? Papa? What you doin'?"

They quickly broke apart, turning to see their pup staring at them, looking confused. 

"We're kissing," Steve said, kneeling down so that he was at Ollie's level. "It's something that adults do when they love each other very much."

After a moment of awkward silence, Steve held out the stuffed animal to Ollie. "This was mine was I was a pup like you. You can have it, if you want."

Ollie didn't waste a second in grabbing the stuffie out of Steve's hands and bringing it up to his nose, sniffing it deeply. 

"Smells wike Papa," he murmured, wrapping his tiny arms around the lion. Steve smiled warmly. All of a sudden, Ollie barged into Steve, nearly knocking him over. Steve chuckled and wrapped his arms around the pup. 

"What do you say, baby?" Bucky said, watching the scene between his pup and boyfriend. 

Ollie stared up at Bucky with wide eyes, looking confused. "You say thank you to Papa for giving you his lion." 

"Fank you, Papa."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally have never been able to spell cinnamon correctly. I completely rely on spellcheck.
> 
> My apologies for any editing or spelling errors.


	31. Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Starker!
> 
> 😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉
> 
> We about to get steamy here.

Tony was a classy man. 

He had always been classy, hell, he was  _born_ classy. 

But now...

He was starting to feel like a high schooler going in to see their teacher after flunking a test. 

"It's right here," Peter said, sounding embarrassed that he was directing a billionaire to the shabby apartment he grew up in. But honestly, Tony didn't really care. He was just too worried about what May Parker would do to him when he asked her if he could claim Peter. 

From the stories that he was told, Peter's Aunt May was very strict, but loved Peter deeply. According to the omega, she had once given a two-day-long speech to a beta Peter was dating, which ended in the beta breaking up with Peter because "I can't do anything with you without your aunt killing me!" 

It was all probably for the best, Tony decided, as Peter was really too delicate to risk getting hurt. 

Tony was eating dinner at May's apartment first as Peter's boss, then later as his boyfriend. Tony had no clue how he was supposed to bring up the question, "Hey, May, I was wondering, could you maybe allow me to screw your nephew and claim him so that he's mine forever?"

"Tony?" 

Tony jerked out of his thoughts, turning to face Peter, who was staring at him, a hand on the door handle of the car and a worried expression on his face. 

"Sorry, baby," Tony said. "Just got caught up in thinking, that's all." 

Peter tipped his head to the side. "What were you thinking about?" he asked shyly. Tony thought about just saying "You," but then he figured that if he wanted to make sure this relationship would last until the end of the world, he should tell the truth. 

"How I'm supposed to tell your aunt about this whole thing." 

"Oh!" Peter seemed to perk up. "I can do that if you want, Tony. I know how to really convince her."

"Aw, thanks, baby," Tony said, pulling Peter in for a kiss by the back of his neck. Tony breathed in the omega's mouthwatering scent, moving their lips together perfectly.

After a while, Peter pulled away, breathing heavily and resting a hand on Tony's chest. "We should go in before she starts to worry," he murmured, and Tony sighed. 

"Fine, sweetheart, but you can't stop me if I want to continue this later." 

His alpha swelled up with pride when he saw the pretty blush on his omega's cheeks and quickly opened the door and stepped out into the warm Queens' air to stop himself from kissing Peter again. 

He followed Peter into the apartment building, shivering slightly as the overly-turned-up A/C blasted in his face. The omega led him to a rusty, old elevator that took forever to show up on their floor. Tony stepped in after Peter, smirking slightly when he discovered the elevator was just barely big enough for two people. 

Tony hummed as he found himself pressed up behind Peter. 

"You gotta hit a button to make the elevator go, baby," he said when Peter froze, his face probably beet red. 

"Er...right, right," he replied hastily, smashing the button for the fourth floor. The elevator took forever to get there, moving slowly and creaking loudly. Finally, though, the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors opened with a soft 'ding.' Peter hurried out into the landing, and Tony found out that he was right- the omega's face was tinted a nice shade of pink. 

"The apartment's that way," Peter said, ducking his head and jerking a thumb over his shoulder. Tony could tell that the omega knew how red his race was and was only getting more embarrassed by it. 

"Lead the way, Pete," Tony hummed, and Peter turned away, leading Tony to one of the last apartments in the hallway. Peter raised a fist and knocked on the door, which was opened in three seconds flat. 

Tony had to admit, his boyfriend's aunt was  _hot._

Wavy, brown hair with mascaraed eyes and a cute white t-shirt. Tony shook himself. It was wrong because he was already dating someone and it was double wrong because it was the person he was dating's relative. 

"Peter!" May said, throwing her arms around the omega and hugging him tightly. "It's so good to see you again!" 

Tony hung back, watching Peter try to squirm out of his aunt's grip with an amused expression on his face. Finally, though, Peter managed to break free, and turned around to face Tony, smoothing out his shirt. 

"Aunt May, this is my boss, Tony Stark."

Tony offered May a smile, which she enthusiastically returned. "Of course! Come in, come in, Mr. Stark! It's a pleasure to have you here! Oh my god, I can't believe that this is actually Tony Stark!" 

"And I can't believe that this is May Parker," Tony said back, smiling. Behind May's back, Peter made a disgusted face at Tony and pretended to throw up. 

"This way to the dining room, Mr. Stark, Peter, why don't you offer Mr. Stark something to drink?" May said, leading Tony into the cramped eating area just off of the kitchen. Even though the apartment was tiny and old, May made it look like it was home. Tony couldn't help but notice the elementary school pictures of Peter hanging up on the fridge, and he made a mental note to ask May for a copy later. That is, if she wasn't going insane mama bear on his ass. 

"I hope you like pasta," May said, spooning out giant spoonfuls of pasta onto three different plates. 

"I don't think there's a single food that I don't like," Tony responded, glancing at Peter. The omega had his back turned to Tony, pouring water into glasses like his aunt had asked. Tony shifted in his seat. If everything went according to plan and May let them mate, then Peter would go off his suppressants and go into heat, hopefully very soon. 

Tony's thoughts were cut off by May swooping over and delivering him his plate, surrounding him in her neutral beta scent rather than Peter's sweet, omega scent that he had been imagining.  The food looked so good, almost nothing like store-bought pasta, covered in Alfredo sauce (Peter must've given May some tips, because how the hell was she supposed to know that he liked his pasta in Alfredo and not spaghetti sauce?) and smelling amazing. Peter set the glasses of water down, and they were able to start eating. 

Which Tony was extremely excited for. Food was freaking great. 

"So, how's the Stark internship going?" May asked casually. Tony glanced up at Peter, who was too focused on his food to know.

"It's going great," Tony replied. "Peter's really catching on quickly and he's a huge help in the lab." 

That's wasn't a lie. Peter had learned tons of new things with Tony, and he was now working on his own project, with Tony's help of course, but he still helped Tony with some of his every now and then.

"I'm actually thinking of hiring him for a full-time job as my assistant."

Peter's head shot up. "You are?" 

Tony nodded. "His skills are too good for just an internship."

"But...what about college? I still have one year left."

"You've earned the amount of college credits you need to graduate early. You've done so much more than any other intern would, Peter." 

Tony could see the confusion in the omega's eyes, and he wanted to tell him that he literally just meant that he helped Tony with a project so much more than a usual intern would have, nothing to do with their relationship. A normal intern would've just handed Tony the different tools and monitored the designs and offered insight if they thought something was off, but Peter was actually hands-on, working on the weapons alongside Tony. 

"Wow, Pete! That's great," May said, breaking into Tony's thoughts. She beamed at her nephew, who smiled widely back. Tony knew that they'd have to talk about it later for Tony to make sure that Peter understood what he was saying. 

"I know you didn't really like college anyway," May continued, "Too loud and too many alphas." 

Tony glanced over at Peter, frowning. The omega had never told him that he didn't like college. Tony had brought it up multiple times, asking him where he went, did he like it, did he have any friends, etc., to which the omega replied with the vaguest details possible, although he did say that he had two friends at college- Ned and MJ.

"Are you finished, Mr. Stark?" May asked, gesturing to his now-empty dish. Tony nodded. "Pete, why don't you clean up the dishes?" 

"Why me, May?" Peter whined, dragging himself out of his seat. 

May mumbled something to Peter that Tony couldn't hear. The omega sighed and began collecting the dishes and glasses. When he grabbed Tony's dish, he stared straight at the alpha's, his eyes holding a question, which was answered with a nod. 

As soon as Peter turned on the sink, Tony leaned in close to May. 

_It's now or never._

"Mrs. Parker, there's actually a reason that Peter and I came to have dinner with you here tonight."

May raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's that?" 

Tony took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. 

_Here goes nothing._

"I want to ask your permission." 

"My permission? For what?" 

"Well, more like your blessing." 

May just stared at Tony, not understanding at all. 

"Peter and I want to get mated, and I thought it would be appropriate if I could ask for your blessing first." 

May's mouth dropped open and she stared at Tony as if he suddenly spontaneous combusted. 

"What?! You want to get mated?!" 

The water in the kitchen shut off, and Peter appeared by the side of the table, glancing down at the floor. 

"Peter?!" May nearly shrieked, looking at the omega in shock. "Is this a joke?!" 

Peter shook his head silently, looking sheepish. 

"Since when? When did this start?"

"Nearly four months now," Peter mumbled. 

"Four months! And now you already want to get mated!?" 

May was staring at the omega, her mouth open in disbelief. Tony felt like she should be mad at him, not Peter. 

"Mrs. Parker, this isn't all Peter's fault," he tried, but May didn't even glance at him. 

"Peter Benjamin Parker. We need to talk. Now."

***

They were gone for nearly an hour. The whole time they were in May's bedroom, shouting about getting mated, Tony was just playing games on his phone, bored out of his mind. Finally, however, the door unlocked and May stepped out first, followed by Peter, whose face was red. 

May sat down at the table, breathing heavily. "Alright," she muttered, so quiet that Tony could barely hear her. "You have my blessing." 

Peter's head snapped up, his eyes wide. Tony grinned, then turned in his seat and pulled Peter down to his level by his shirt, meshing their mouths together. 

"Thanks, Mrs. Parker," Tony said once he and Peter broke apart. May was watching them, almost smiling. 

"Call me May, Mr. Stark, seeing as we're soon going to be related."

"Well then, you can call me Tony." 

***

"Have you ever seen my Malibu home?" 

Peter shook his head, looking confused. "I didn't know you had a Malibu home."

They were sitting, curled up on Tony's giant couch, pressed up against each other and sharing a blanket. The omega was practically welded into Tony's side, which wasn't helping one bit, seeing as Tony was already aroused thanks to Peter's skinny jeans and his magnified scent. 

Tony just wanted to pounce on Peter, hold him down, and never let him get up. 

Peter had gone off his heat suppressants a week ago, and now they were just waiting for him to go into heat so they could mate. Tony didn't think he could wait until he went into heat. Every day, it seemed, the omega's scent was getting strong, no longer being suppressed by the pills. Even when the omega wasn't there, the entire Stark Tower smelled like flowers with a hint of sugar. It was the scent that Tony got off to at nights. 

"How about we go there this weekend and stay until your heat ends?" 

Tony's couldn't ignore the pretty blush that bloomed on Peter's face when Tony mentioned his heat. 

"Oh. I guess, if you're alright with having me there." 

Tony chuckled. "Sweetheart, we're going to get mated. Of course I'm alright with having you there. Besides, I'm not sure you want to do it Stark Tower. This is literally a work place."

"Okay, then. I would love to see it," Peter said, back to watching the Bachelor on TV. Tony narrowed his eyes. Peter sounded a little distracted. 

"Peter," Tony said softly, and the omega looked at him. "Are you worried about your heat?" 

Peter bit his lip, not looking Tony in the eye. "Kind of. I haven't had one since I was fifteen, and they were always so painful."

"Did you ever get yourself off?" 

Peter's face turned an even darker shade of red. "Sometimes." 

"That's your problem, sweetheart. It hurt because you were never relieving the pain. Trust me, it'll be so much better with another person." 

Peter nodded, but he squirmed closer to Tony, if that was even possible. Tony smiled and threw an arm around the omega's shoulder, pressing his nose into the other's hair and breathing in his intoxicating scent. 

"I can't wait," he murmured.

***

"Wow! You live here, Tony?" 

Tony chuckled at Peter's obvious amazement at his Malibu home. "Sure do, sweetheart." 

The omega had been adorable all day; he was obviously excited to fly to California in Tony's private jet and had stared out the plane window with large eyes, the same eyes that he was now staring at Tony's mansion with. 

As soon as the chauffeur, Happy, rolled to a stop, Peter jumped out of the car and onto the massive courtyard. 

"Um....Tony?" Happy said, frowning at the omega. 

"He's fine," Tony said, getting out of the car himself. "Could you get Peter's bags and put them in the first guest bedroom, please?" 

Happy nodded and sighed. The omega had packed three bags for the trip, which was probably two bags too many, but they didn't really know how long they would be staying. It would all matter on when Peter's heat hit. 

Tony walked towards the omega, who was currently staring up at the huge, glass windows, his mouth open.

"Do you wanna go inside?" Tony asked him, trying not to laugh as the omega nodded, dumbfounded. 

"I...er...don't know where the door is."

Tony smirked and gently placed his hand on Peter's lower back. "Right this way, sweetheart," he said, leading him to the glass front doors. Peter watched in awe as Tony touched the area of glass just to the left of the doors and a key pad appeared, then typed in a long code that allowed the doors to slide open. 

"Wow..." Peter breathed out as they stepped into a bright and sunny modern, circular room with massive windows and skylights. 

"You live here?" 

"Yes, and you do too, now," Tony said, leaning up against a wall, watching the omega walk around the living room. Peter glanced over at Tony, his eyes wide. 

"Really?" he breathed out. 

Tony nodded, smiling. "Seeing as we're going to be mated soon, of course."

Peter marveled at the wall of windows overlooking the sea just off of the living room and the massive grand piano is held. 

"Do you play?" Peter asked, gesturing to the piano. 

"No," Tony answered. "But I used to. What about you?" 

Peter nodded, his eyes lit up with the hope of getting his fingers on the keys. "Yes."

Tony showed the excited omega the rest of the house, the bright kitchen, the huge TV room, and all the guest bedrooms. Peter's face turned red when Tony showed him the master bedroom with its huge bed, low to the ground. 

"I expect this is where we'll be spending most of our time soon," Tony hummed, staring out the window to the sea. "But until you go into heat, you'll be staying in one of the guest bedrooms. Happy should've brought your bags up to one of the rooms already."

"Is he going to be staying with us?" 

"Yes, just to make sure that nothing goes wrong." 

Peter nodded. He stared out the window, biting his lip. "God, this is so amazing. I can hardly believe that I'm not dreaming."

Tony grinned. "How about we do a little something to reassure yourself?" 

Peter turned towards the alpha, his eyes sparkling and his face flushing. "Like what?" 

"Swimming. Jesus kid, what the hell were  _you_ thinking?" 

***

The next week had to be something like the best week Tony had ever had. Every day he and Peter would sleep in until nearly noon, wake up and make breakfast together, swim either in Tony's pool or at Point Dume Beach, play the various board games Tony had (don't judge them), and play piano. 

Tony quickly found out that Peter was probably one of the best piano players he had ever heard. Peter had memorized what seemed like thousands of piano pieces and could play them all from memory. He was teaching Tony the basic classical pieces, which Tony found to be rather frustrating and hard. 

They had even managed to convince Happy to play a game of three-person water volleyball with them, which he ended up winning. 

One night, Peter and Tony went out to a fancy dinner place on a date. Tony, who had planned ahead, had managed to buy a perfectly tailored gray suit for Peter that fit him exactly, and he had to admit, the omega looked  _sexy_ in it. It almost made Tony want to mate him right then and there. 

The only thing that was missing from their perfect vacation was Peter's heat. 

It had nearly been three weeks since Peter had gone off his pills, and Tony was sure that there wasn't supposed to be such a big time gap. He didn't want to bring it up to Peter, though, since the omega seemed rather touchy around the topic of his heats. 

It seemed like his wishes were granted, however, on their ninth day at Malibu mansion. 

Tony woke up and rolled out of bed, exhausted from a long night of reading. Even though he was on vacation, he couldn't detach himself  _completely_ from work and was reading all of his father's old notes on the arc reactor, a piece of technology that he had tried to create in his own days but wasn't able to finish the piece before he died. Tony had been thinking about remaking it, but on a much smaller scale, for some time now, but had yet to draw his own designs and actually start working. 

He made his way to the bathroom and started a shower, hopping into the cold water in hope of waking himself up quickly. The water warmed up fast, and soon the bathroom was filled with steam. Once he was done, he shut off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist, and grabbed another one, drying his hair with it. 

He dried his body off and slipped on a clean pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. He had plans to take Peter into the city of Malibu, but all that went into the trash when he left his room and made his way into the kitchen, smelling a scent he had been dreaming about forever. 

Omega heat. 

A thrill passed through Tony's body. 

_Peter's in heat._

_It's about damn time._

The omega was sitting in the kitchen, on one of the barstools, wrapped up in a blanket and shivering slightly. A mug sat in front of him, its contents steaming. Tony took a deep breath. He could feel his arousal building and had to take a deep breath before walking into the kitchen so he wouldn't pounce on Peter. 

"Why didn't you tell me your heat hit?" he asked, his voice strangely deep. Peter jumped a little and glanced back at him, his face a pretty shade of pink. 

"I-i didn't want to bother you. You were getting ready." 

The omega squirmed in his seat and Tony knew that even though he was in heat, he wasn't at the height of it and could still think and speak rationally. 

Tony walked over and wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on Peter's head. "Sweetheart," he said, "You wouldn't bother me." He gently turned Peter around on the barstool and cupped his face in his hands, tilting his head up. Peter's eyes landed on his lips, wide and lustful, his pupils blown so wide there was almost no brown left. 

Tony pressed a kiss to Peter's lips, tilting his head  _just right_ so that they fit together perfectly. Even though they were just kissing, the omega moaned softly and threw his arms around the alpha's shoulders. 

"Tony," he whispered out.

Tony didn't waste a second in grabbing Peter's thighs and hauling him up out of the stool. The omega gasped against his lips, wrapping his legs around his waist. Tony held onto Peter's back to make sure that he wouldn't fall and began walking towards the master bedroom, his lips still locked with Peter's. 

It was a slow progress, seeing as Peter wasn't the most lightest thing in the world, and Tony couldn't exactly see where he was going, but eventually, they made it there, Tony tipping Peter onto the bed before turning around and shutting the door and locking it. 

When he turned back around and looked back at Peter, the omega had sprawled himself out over Tony's bed, his legs spread wide, his eyes on the alpha.

"Tony..." he whispered again, licking his lips. 

"What do you want, sweetheart?" 

"I want...oh god, I want...."

The omega whimpered suddenly and closed his legs, rubbing his thighs together. At the same time, the sweet smell of slick split the air. Tony breathed it all in, shameless, as he stared at  _his_ omega. 

_Mine._

Tony was on Peter in seconds, grabbing his right wrist and holding it above his head, forcing his legs to open up for his body to slide in between them, his lips locking onto Peter's neck. He sucked a bruise onto the omega's flawless skin, grinding his crotch down. 

The omega's head tipped back as he cried out, his eyes screwing up. 

"Take this off," Tony growled, tugging up at Peter's shirt. It was too big for him, which only made him more adorable, but Tony wanted to feel his  _skin,_ not the fabric covering it. 

Tony released Peter's wrist long enough to allow the omega to pull the shirt over his head, before he grabbed him again. He hummed in approval as he kissed his way down Peter's torso, taking in the pale skin and toned abdomen. 

Peter writhed beneath him, whispering his name like he was afraid of being too loud.  

"It's alright, sweetheart," Tony murmured, staring up at the omega's face. "It's just us here. Make all the noises you want."

And he  _did,_ whimpering loudly when Tony sucked another hickey into his flanks and collarbone, when Tony ground his crotch down again, just at the right place, and when Tony slowly peeled his flannel pants off of him, leaving him just in his boxers, skin exposed to the air and his alpha. 

"You too," Peter panted when Tony finally let up and leaned back, staring down at the artwork of dark bruises he had left on his body. 

Tony smirked and slowly began unbuttoning his shirt. He slipped it off his arms, then started unzipping his jeans, taking his own time. 

Peter let out a frustrated growl, but Tony raised a finger up to his lips. "How are you going to ask, sweetheart?" he hummed. 

"Please?" Peter said, so quiet that Tony almost didn't hear him. 

"What was that, sweetheart? I can't hear you." 

"Please!" Peter begged, his hands flying up to hold onto Tony's shoulders as the alpha bent down and licked a broad stripe up his neck, right over his scent gland. Peter's scent crowded around Tony's head, making it hard to think and his jaws to hurt. 

He pulled his jeans down, tossing them carelessly onto the floor, along with his boxers. He could see Peter's face, his mouth open in wonder, his eyes nearly black, as he stared at Tony. 

"Your turn," the alpha murmured, before tugging down the other's boxers himself. 

_He's beautiful._

"Turn over, sweetheart," Tony hummed and Peter immediately obeyed, flipping over and exposing his ass to Tony. Tony reached over to his nightstand and opened up the draw, pulling out a condom. He rolled it onto himself before turning back to the omega. Peter was looking back at Tony, his mouth hanging open as he panted. 

"I-i want you," he whispered, then blushed immediately when he realized what he said. Tony smirked and slid on top of Peter again. Peter's slick was trickling down his creamy thighs, creating a little pool on the bedsheets. 

"You have to be prepped first, sweetheart," Tony muttered, dragging a finger up Peter's crack. The omega groaned and pushed his ass back. Tony traced his finger tip over his rim before pushing it just inside. 

Peter cried out and arched his back, and Tony realized that he had probably never fingered himself before. Peter was slick and loose from the heat, making it easy for the alpha to slip his finger in nearly up to his knuckle. Tony moved his finger around before adding a second one, then a third.

Peter was whimpered, moaning, and squirming by the time Tony was done. 

"Are you ready?" 

The omega nodded so much Tony wondered if his head was going to fall off. Carefully and slowly, Tony pushed into Peter until he was pressed against the back of his thighs. He was shaking, trying to get used to the length and width of Tony. Tony found himself gently rubbing his hand in circles on Peter's back to get the omega to relax to make it easier. 

"Oh god," Peter moaned out, rocking his hips back a little. "Please, alpha." 

That's all it took. 

It felt amazing. H _e_ felt amazing.

The sounds that fell from Peter's mouth and the feeling of his heat only spurred Tony on even more. But what was even more amazing was when Tony climaxed, he surged forward and bit firmly down onto Peter's neck, breaking his skin. Blood flooded his mouth, hot and metallic, but he didn't care.

All that mattered was that he was now mated to Peter Parker. 

His omega. 

Tony gently maneuvered them so that they were lying down on their sides, spooning, Tony still buried deep in Peter, his knot preventing him from slipping out. He licked the mating bite on Peter's neck with little kitten licks until it had stopped bleeding. The omega just lay there, completely exhausted. But Tony knew that he had yet to reach the most intense part of his heat. 

Tony wrapped his arms around his omega, completely happy. He realized that he had never spoken the three little words to express to  _his omega_ what he had felt all along. 

"I love you." 

"I love you too." 

_My omega._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have no clue how to write smut.  
> Oops. 😂😂😂
> 
> I apologize for the crappy writing.


	32. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowiewowow!!!  
> Only three more chapters to go!!!!!!!!!  
> Good thing there's a book two.......
> 
>  
> 
> I'm sorry, but I'm just thinking of the right words to say  
> I know they don't sound the way I planned them to be  
> But if you'll wait around a while, I'll make you fall for me  
> I promise  
> I promise you I will  
> -"The Promise", When In Rome (or Superfruit)(Superfruit's better)

**September 2018**

Steve was in love with life. 

He had a huge house in the middle of the country, the best job, doing what he love, the perfect son, and the most amazing boyfriend in the whole world.

The only thing that would make his life better if he and said boyfriend were mated. But they had wanted to wait until Bucky's heat to do anything besides dry humping because they wanted to make sure that Bucky was ready, physically. Steve couldn't help but wonder if Bucky would ever be able to go into heat again, and honestly, that thought scared him. 

But he tried not to think about it, just wanting to let nature work things out by itself. 

Life with Ollie couldn't be better. The pup was so energetic and curious about everything, pointing to nearly everything he saw with his huge, green eyes, and squeaking, "Was dat?" As the progressed, Steve realized just how much Ollie's adopted parents neglected him. He was pretty behind on what normal kids his age should know, although thankfully not physically behind. After some discussion, Bucky and Steve decided to send Ollie to preschool by September, even though they knew that the pup would protest it. 

And he did. Bucky and Steve enrolled Ollie in Charter Lane KinderCare, which seemed like the best shot, and it was on the way to Steve's job at LA Fitness, so the alpha could drop Ollie off every morning. 

When Bucky and Steve first told Ollie that he was going to have to go to preschool, the pup started crying. "I don't wanna g-go!" he had howled, clinging to Bucky's shirt as he sat on his lap. It took a lot of reassuring to convince Ollie that it was for the best. 

The rest of August went by quickly, and all too soon it was time for Ollie to go to preschool. It wasn't just Ollie who didn't want to go, it was Bucky as well. The omega and his pup had been together for an entire month, seeing as Bucky didn't have a job, and had bonded so much during that time. Steve's favorite part of his work day was coming home and seeing Bucky and Ollie playing together in the middle of the living room. 

They were lying in bed the night before the first day of preschool, when Bucky spoke up. 

"I don't know if I can do this, Steve." 

"Do what?" 

"Let him go to school." 

Steve glanced down at Bucky. They were wrapped up with each other, their chests pressed up against one another, Bucky's head tucked underneath Steve's chin. 

"He'll be fine, baby," Steve murmured, gently stroking Bucky's hair. "He may be a little behind in intellectual development, but I know he's going to go there and have so much fun with all the other pups."

Bucky sighed and gently ran his fingers down Steve's chest. He had been sleeping shirtless more and more now, and Bucky loved it. He would always snuggle up immediately to the alpha, basking in his body heat and scent. 

"I just...I just wish that I could've been there for more of his life," Bucky whispered. 

"He's only three years old, Bucky. He has a whole life ahead of him. And anyway, it's not like you could've helped it, anyway." 

"Hmm," Bucky hummed thoughtfully, tucking his head into Steve's chest, inhaling deeply. Steve ran his fingers through the omega's hair, trying to sooth him down. Bucky always got worked up over the little things, believing that he had to fix everything, when in reality, he didn't. Sometimes, things would just work out for themselves. 

Soon, the omega's breathing turned deeper and his eyelids fluttered shut. Steve smiled and pressed a kiss against his boyfriend's head. 

_Hopefully, not boyfriend for long._

***

The next morning, Ollie was up bright and early, bursting into Steve and Bucky's room, jumping on their bed. 

"Daddy! Papa! Wake up! We gonna be wate!" the pup shrieked, bouncing out of his room. 

"God..." Bucky groaned out, rubbing his eyes. 

"At least  _he's_ not worried anymore," Steve chuckled, pressing a kiss to Bucky's lips before sliding out of bed. He walked into the kitchen, where he found Ollie, sitting on one of the barstools at the kitchen island, dressed although not correctly, with his shorts on backwards and his T-Rex shirt inside out.

"Papa!" the pup cried gleefully, then jumped off the stool and rushed over to Steve. The alpha picked him up by the armpits and swung him around in the kitchen, causing Ollie to squeal. 

"Are you excited for today?" Steve asked, setting the pup back down on the ground. Ollie nodded his head aggressively, his blonde hair bouncing up and down. 

"What do you want for breakfast, buddy?"

"Cai I have anyfing I wan?" Ollie questioned as Steve opened the fridge. 

"Sure. But don't tell your daddy," he added, turning around and pressing a finger to his lips. Ollie giggled and nodded, covering his mouth with both hands. 

"Cai haf pancakes?" 

"What's the magic word?"

"Pwease?" 

"Of course, buddy."

Steve pulled out frozen pancakes from the freezer and popped three chocolate chip pancakes into the microwave. He grabbed the carton of orange juice and poured a glass, handing it to Ollie. He set up the coffee machine for Bucky, and poured water into a mug for his own tea that he would heat up in the microwave once Ollie's pancakes were done.

As the microwave beeped, Bucky shuffled into the kitchen, looking tired in Steve's robe and messy hair that was lazily pulled back into a tiny bun. Steve smiled at the omega, wrapping his arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to his lips. 

"Ew! Gross!" Ollie shrieked, slapping his hands over his eyes. Steve chuckled, gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind Bucky's ear. 

"I made you coffee," he murmured, pointing behind him to the coffee machine. He grabbed a mug from the cabinet and handed it to Bucky before taking Ollie's pancakes out of the microwave and placing them in from of the pup. 

"Yum, yum!" Ollie giggled, picking up one pancake with his hands and shoving it in his mouth. Steve grabbed his mug of water and put it in the microwave, heating it up for his tea. 

"You let him have pancakes before his first day of school?" Bucky said softly, taking his first sip of coffee. Steve shrugged. 

"It's a special occasion," he protested, and Bucky sighed, rubbing his eyes. 

"Sorry, I'm just really tired. I didn't get a good sleep last night." 

Steve nodded, rubbing Bucky's back. When the microwave went off again, he took his now hot water out and placed a tea bag in the mug. 

"Baby, your shirt's inside out," Bucky said, tugging on the tag that was showing on Ollie's shirt. "And your shorts are on backwards." 

"Oh no!" Ollie said, and Bucky smiled. "I'll help you put your clothes on the right way after you finish eating, okay?"

Ollie nodded, shoving the last pancake in his mouth.

"Don't take such big bites, baby. You could choke." 

Ollie nodded and swallowed the pancake quickly, hopping off of the stool once he was done. He trotted over to Bucky and pulled on his hand, whining for him to correct his clothes. 

"I'll take some eggs," Bucky called over his shoulder as he was being led up the stairs by the pup. Steve nodded, throwing one last smile at Bucky before turning around and grabbing a pan and placing it on the stove. He hummed as he moved around the kitchen, cracking four eggs and whipping them with milk. It just felt so  _right,_ _this moment,_ making eggs for his boyfriend and pup. It felt of amazing that Steve was scared he would wake up suddenly to find that it was all a dream- that he had never met Bucky before, never saved him from the streets, that he was still running his gym back in New York City and just doing the same thing over and over and over and over...

But then Bucky and Ollie descended down the stairs with Ollie's clothes now on correctly, and the thought was lost. 

"Why don't you go play before school, baby? We have nearly twenty minutes," Bucky suggested, and Ollie bounced over to living room, dragging out a basket that contained his toy trucks and spreading them all around himself. 

Steve placed his hands on Bucky's hips and tugged the omega closer to him, breathing in his warm, familiar scent. They leaned their foreheads together, bumping noses and brushing their lips up against each other's. 

Bucky mumbled something. 

"What was that?" Steve asked, pulling back to look him in the eyes. 

Bucky smiled lazily. "Could you hand me my coffee?" 

Steve rolled his eyes and grabbed the steaming mug, passing it off to the other. "Jerk." 

"You're a punk." 

When the eggs were ready, Steve divided them onto two different plates and he and Bucky ate side by side, quietly, as Ollie played in the living room, making loud noises as his moved his trucks around the carpet. In a few minutes, they were done, and Bucky was shuffling off to their bedroom to take a quick shower. 

"Will you be alright by yourself for a minute, buddy?" Steve asked Ollie, and when the pup nodded, he slipped after Bucky to change for the day. He slid on a tight t-shirt and joggers for the gym, running a hand through his hair to smooth it down a bit. He was tying his shoes when Bucky came out of the bathroom, smelling amazing after his shower. His hair was wet and draped in front of his eyes. He was dressed already, but that didn't stop Steve's eyes from ranking down his body. 

"Like what you see?" Bucky teased, toweling off his sopping hair. 

"Oh, hell yeah, I do," Steve replied, moving around Bucky so he could have his own turn in the bathroom, but not before he traced his finger down the omega's spine, stopping just before his ass. Bucky swore as Steve shut the door, chuckling. Bucky was just so fun to tease. 

Once Steve had gone to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, Bucky wasn't in their room anymore. 

 _He's probably just with Ollie,_ Steve thought, and his suspicions were proved correct when Steve found Ollie and Bucky sitting on the floor of the living room, playing with Ollie's trucks. Steve and Bucky managed to herd the pup into the car, with some difficulty as he suddenly wanted to stay home and play all day. 

Steve slid into the driver's seat once Ollie was fastened into his car seat and soon, they were off to preschool. 

"Hey," Steve murmured to Bucky. "We'll have to get you your own car soon."

Bucky glanced over at Steve, frowning. "What?" 

"Well, I mean, I'll have the car at work all day, and what if some days you want to go out? And anyway, I can't be leaving work early to pick Ollie up from preschool every day."

Bucky bit his lip. "God, it's been like four and a half years since I've driven, I don't know if I can do it again."

Steve shrugged. "Shouldn't be too hard. We can go out to abandoned parking lots and practice, and then you can take the driver's test and get your license back." 

Bucky nodded, then he sighed. "Things would just be so much easier if the government never thought I was dead." 

Steve chuckled, and they were silent for a moment, before the alpha spoke up. 

"How's the job search going?" 

Bucky shrugged. "Okay. I finally emailed the fabric store we saw, like, a month ago, and I'm just waiting for them to get back to me."

Steve nodded. He hoped that Bucky would get the job. The omega certainly would need it, now that Steve was going to work and Oliver was going to preschool. It was too bad he hadn't finished college and could get a better job. Another thing Hydra had robbed him from. 

Soon enough, they had made it to KinderCare, a long, flat building of brown bricks. 

"We're here!" Bucky said enthusiastically, turning in his seat to face Ollie. The little pup stared out the window, his eyes wide. 

"You want to go in, buddy?" Steve asked, but he shook his head.

"C'mon baby, it'll be fun," Bucky tried. It took a lot of effort to get Ollie out of the car, who was suddenly so against the idea of going to school. In the end, Bucky ended up carrying Ollie into the building as the pup clung to his shirt and stared around at all of the other pups who were coming in for their first day. 

Steve breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that all the other kids were the same way- clinging to their parents as they didn't want to be left. Some were even crying. 

Steve found Ollie's room, number one-twelve, which was bright and had cute posters all over the walls. 

"Hi!" Steve blinked as a woman with the biggest smile he had ever seen stepped into his view. "I'm Anna Mitchell!" 

Steve took her outstretched hand and gave her a smile in return, though not as big as her own. "I'm Steve Rogers. This is Bucky, and our pup, Oliver." 

As the teacher shook hands with Bucky, Steve felt his inner alpha swell at his own words- "our pup." Miss Anna led them around the room, showing them the reading corner, the coloring tables, the sandbox, but Steve wasn't really paying attention. 

_I have my own family now._

He glanced over at Bucky and offered him a soft smile, which was returned. 

Ollie started crying when Steve and Bucky finally had to leave. He clung to Bucky, wailing, "No, Daddy!" and when that didn't work, he turned to Steve. 

"Buddy, you're going to have such a fun time," Steve said gently, rubbing his son's back. Ollie shook his head and clung to Steve t-shirt. "Yes you are! You're going to make lots of new friends and you're going to have a blast. I promise." 

Ollie mumbled something that the alpha couldn't quite hear. 

"What was that, buddy? Can you say it again, louder?"

"W-will you come back?" he stuttered. Steve frowned. 

"Of course. We have to take you back home, don't we?" 

"Oh." 

For some reason, Ollie perked right back up. He drew out from Steve's embraced, saying, "Bye bye!"

And with that, he turned around and trotted over to the sandbox where two other pups stood. 

Bucky turned to Steve. "Well, that was easier than I thought."

Steve stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess we just leave now...?" he trailed off, unsure of what to do. 

Bucky shrugged and left the classroom, Steve close behind. Steve couldn't help but wonder if Ollie's adopted parents had forgotten him at a daycare center more than one time. Ollie had probably thought that Bucky and Steve were going to do the same. 

_Poor guy..._

***

The Barnes-Rogers family managed to get into a routine over the next week. They would all wake up at seven, then Steve would take Ollie to preschool and go to his work, while Bucky would stay home, which Steve found resulted in the house being completely  _spotless._ At around three, Steve would leave work, pick Ollie up, and drive home. While Ollie had his afternoon nap, Steve would help Bucky go over some driving license quizzes he found online in preparation for the driving test Bucky would take on Saturday. The omega was nervous, but also rather excited, because it meant that he would be getting his own car. 

They had also talked about what kind of car Bucky would be getting, and settled on a minivan. The doors opened wide, it was pretty low to the ground, and there was a ton of space. Getting a car also meant that Steve could work longer hours at the gym, rather than eight-thirty to three, which his boss didn't particularly like. 

On the topic of jobs, Bucky had received an email from the fabric store he wanted to work at, saying that he was to start the next Monday. Honestly, Steve couldn't have been more excited for his boyfriend. Bucky had a  _job_ now. After four years of being forced to be a breeder, and less than one healing and hiding, he was finally back on his feet. 

The store, Zook's Fabric Store, was run by three elderly Amish ladies and one teenage girl who worked on Saturdays, plus now Bucky. It was a cute little store that also sold books and children's toys and required only knowledge about measurements and using scissors. 

Bucky passed his driver's test on Saturday, meaning that he now had his driver's license again. The next Wednesday, two days after Bucky started his job, which he loved, he, Steve, and a restless Ollie went to the local car dealer and bought Bucky a used Toyota minivan. Bucky couldn't have been more proud as he drove home in it, with Ollie in the back seat. Steve couldn't have been happier, watching Bucky's smile spread across his face. 

The only thing that could complete Steve's life now if he and Bucky were mated. 

Steve and Bucky had talked about it, and they decided that it was best to see a doctor to make sure that there was nothing actually  _wrong_ with Bucky's body. Steve went into tons of research online, trying to find the best one, before he finally settled on Dr. Lindale Harper, a beta reproductive endocrinologist. 

The first time they went to visit her, just when the leaves started turning from green to orange, Bucky was nervous, his knee bouncing up and down. They dropped Ollie off at the Barton's, in order for him to meet his "aunt" and "uncle" and spend time with their pups, as well as not making Bucky and Steve bring him to the doctor's. 

Steve reached over and grabbed Bucky's hand, sensing his fear. "It's going to be alright," Steve said gently. 

"But what if they say that I can never go into heat?" Bucky murmured, staring up at Steve. 

Steve shrugged. "Then so be it," he said. "I'll mate and love you anyway." 

Just then, Bucky's name was called and they stood up, before being led by the nurse to a room. Dr. Lindale Harper looked like she was in her fifties, with curly, dark hair and wrinkled, brown skin. She smiled as Steve and Bucky sat down on the two chairs opposite of her little desk. She had pictures scattered over it, Steve noticed, of a girl with a graduation cap on, smiling widely, and then another picture of the same girl in a wedding dress, and another one of a little pup in suspenders and an afro. 

 _Probably her daughter and grandson,_ Steve thought as Dr. Harper spoke. 

"I'm Dr. Harper, but feel free to call me Lindale. I'm assuming you're James?" She held out her hand to Bucky, who took it, a little taken back that she spoke to him first. 

"Bucky," he replied, offering her a warm smile back. 

"And this must be your man." She turned to Steve now, and they shook hands. Steve chuckled. "Yeah." 

"Right. Let's get down to business. You want to make sure that you can still have heats, am I correct?" she asked Bucky, who nodded. "Okay, tell me your story." 

Bucky frowned. "Did you not get the email?" 

"I did, but I want to hear it from you." 

Bucky shuffled, looking uncomfortable, but he took a deep breath. "I was forced to be a breeder when I was nineteen years old. I had four pups, but I was also used for... other stuff. They used injections to get me into heat so that they could control when I had the pups. I think the injections were also to boost my fertility. When I got caught for the fifth time, I miscarried pretty quickly, I think during the second month. Anyway, I was thrown out of the breeding facility, nearly dead. Steve found me, and I'm back to health now, but I still haven't had a heat since, maybe, fall of last year." 

"Jesus Christ, I'm sorry. It sounds like it was the injections that are causing you to not have a heat yet, even though you had them about a year ago. They seem like pretty powerful stuff. The injections would throw off your hormones to make you suddenly go into heat, so I'm thinkin' if I give you some pills to stabilize your hormones, that should do the trick. Of course, the first step is to check to see if you're fertile. With all the trauma you've gone through, I wouldn't be surprise if that was damaged."

Bucky exchanged a horrified glance with Steve. 

"And if the tests come back negative," Dr. Harper continued. "Then we could possibly put you on some fertility-enhancing drug. That would have to come after the hormone-stabilizing pills, of course. Without those first, we could really screw up your system." 

Bucky blinked. "Wait, really?" 

"I'm not saying they'd actually work, but I'm saying it's worth a try." 

"Oh my god," Bucky breathed out, turning to Steve. Steve smiled and grabbed his boyfriend's hand. 

"See," the alpha said. "I told you everything's going to be okay." 

Dr. Harper drew some blood and made Bucky pee in a little cup, promised that they would have the results in a few days, and then they were on their way. 

"Jesus, t-that's amazing," Bucky stammered once they were in the car on their way to pick Ollie up from Clint and Laura's house. "I thought that if I was infertile, then that was it. No more heats, no more pups." 

Steve blinked. "More pups?" 

"With you, punk." 

"What?' 

Bucky glanced over at Steve. "Ollie's going to get lonely eventually. And anyway, just because I was forced to get pregnant, doesn't mean that I hate it now."

"Bucky, are you sure? I don't want you to do something that could harm you even more." 

"Steve," Bucky said, smiling. "I want to have pups with you." 

They had the most intense dry humping session ever that night. 

 

The results for the fertility test came surprisingly quickly, just two days after they visited Dr. Harper. They opened it after Ollie had been put to bed, snuggled up on the couch, Steve's arm around Bucky. Bucky opened the envelope slowly and pulled out the results. The page was filled with confusing strings of letters and numbers, which made sense only to doctors, but the only thing Steve needed to see was the tiny little box titled "FINAL REPORT" at the bottom. 

Positive.

_Positive._

Bucky breathed a sigh of relief, then turned around in his seat and flung his arms around Steve, burying his nose in the alpha's neck. 

"I would've taken you any way," Steve murmured. 

"I know," Bucky whispered back. 

Now all they had to do was get the hormone pills and wait. 

Steve would wait a thousand more years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so Zook's Fabric Store is actually a real place and it's super cool and really cute and all their fabric is amazing and if you live in Pennsylvania near Lancaster County, you should totally go visit it.
> 
> Two more chapters now!! 
> 
> Hoo boy. I can't wait. They're going to be so much fun. 😉😉😉


	33. Bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I still get like this  
> My body on fire, breathless  
> I only want to be alone with you, oh  
> It's all right, I'm coming for you, baby  
> Hold tight, let me break on you like a wave  
> Don't you pretend that you can't feel it, oh  
> I'm yours tonight if you say that you want it  
> Ah-yeah, ah-yeah  
> Our paradise, if you think you can go there  
> Ah-yeah, ah-yeah  
> A sweet summer love vacation  
> Feeling the good vibrations  
> Our paradise, if you say that you want it  
> Ah-yeah, ah-yeah
> 
> -"Vacation" by Superfruit

**October 2018**

As September morphed into October, the leaves turned orange and dry and started dropping, covering the Barnes-Rogers' massive yard. One Saturday, Bucky and Steve raked the leaves together in huge piles that they let Ollie jump into, giggling loudly as he tossed the leaves up into the air. Bucky couldn't resist joining him in after a few minutes, covering his pup's head with the orange leaves. 

It had been about two weeks since Bucky had started the hormone-stablilizing pills, with no result. 

He had been emailing with Dr. Harper, in case any side effects showed up, and when he told her about the last of heat, she responded with, " _Wow, your hormones must've been a lot more damaged than I had originally thought."_

That didn't help Bucky feel any better at all. 

However, Steve was being insanely supportive. He kept telling Bucky, "It'll come soon, don't worry," while wrapping his arms that were as thick as Bucky's thighs around his body and pressing a kiss to his hair. 

Bucky honestly had no clue what he would do without Steve. 

Well, he would still be a breeder, for starters. 

Bucky was loving his job. It wasn't hard at all. He worked Monday to Friday, from eight-thirty to three, and earned honestly a pretty good pay. The three Amish ladies who owned the store, Sara Beiler, her sister, Hannah Bontrager, and Hannah's adult daughter, Leah Fisher, were kind, welcoming, and treated Bucky like part of his family. The customers were mainly Amish women and tourists, who were willing to spend a ton of money. 

Bucky had always wanted to be a teacher, ever since he was little. He had gone to college, majoring in english, with the hope of one day being able to teach elementary-age kids. It was almost stereotypical, as the majority of teachers for that age group were omegas. Bucky had babysat a ton during his high school career, and he had always been good with older pups. 

Too bad Hydra stole that from him. 

"Hello, welcome to Zook's Fabric Store! Is there anything that you need assistance on?" Bucky asked the group of people who'd just walked through the door. They were obviously tourists; there were two adults and their three children who ran into the store as soon as the door was opened and amongst the many rows of fabric. 

"No, thank you," the mom said, offering Bucky a friendly smile, which he returned. 

Just then, Bucky's stomach twisted slightly. He frowned. It almost felt like he had a gas bubble. 

 _Oh god, I hope not._ He wasn't too happy about the idea of letting one go while he was working. The pain faded, and Bucky was able to forget about it for a while as he cut the fabric for the tourist family and watched them leave.

"Business is slow today, isn't it?" Sara said, waking over to Bucky and placing some rolls of fabric on the counter. Leah was running the toys and books section, and Hannah was staying home with her sick son. "Could you put these away for me?" 

Bucky nodded and grabbed the rolls. He was just walking amongst the rows to match the fabrics with others that had similar strings of numbers when the pain came back, this time along with a minor hot flash. Bucky shoved the last roll in its place and rubbed his hand across his abdomen. 

_Maybe it was something I ate?_

He excused himself to the bathroom, hoping that that would solve the problem, but it didn't. He was washing his hands when he had another hot flash, one that caused him to bend over the sink, gripping the side for support. 

"Jesus..." 

He was starting to sweat all over, his clothes becoming too itchy on his suddenly sensitive skin. The twisting in his stomach had gravitated lower, but thankfully was beginning to dull, turning into a throbbing sensation. He let out a breath of air and straightened up, with some difficulty. He really wasn't feeling good. Maybe he'd have to go home early. Thankfully, it wasn't that early, it was only one-fourty-five...

Bucky swore loudly as his legs suddenly went weak and his knees buckled. He dropped onto the ground, feeling hot, sweaty, achy, and gross. 

He kneeled on the ground for nearly half an hour before he was finally able to get up again, strength returning to his legs and his body cooling down somewhat. He left the bathroom, stumbling a little. 

"Are you alright?" Leah asked, noticing him. He shrugged. 

"I-i don't know." 

Leah frowned. "Did you throw up?" 

"No, but my stomach hurts a lot." 

Leah worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "Do you need to leave early?" When Bucky nodded, she directed him to sit on a chair in the employee's room while she told Sara what was happening. 

Bucky could feel another hot flash coming on, this one much more intense. His clothes felt stifling and he suddenly felt like he couldn't breath that well. 

The door creaked open and Sara stepped in, her calm beta scent washing over Bucky. "Sara said you're suddenly not feeling well?" 

When Bucky shook his head, the old woman pressed a hand to his forehead and gasped. "You're burning up!" 

Bucky winced as his lower stomach twinged. 

"Will you be alright getting home?" 

"I-i don't think so," Bucky replied truthfully. 

"Okay...I'm not sure if I can give you a ride home. I have to stay here and watch the shop, and Leah isn't comfortable with driving the buggy yet, but I don't want to have you stay here while you're in pain." 

"I can call Steve, it's fine," Bucky said, breathing heavily. Sara nodded and left him alone, returning to her work. Bucky fished out his phone and punched in Steve's number, his hands now shaking. It went straight to voicemail. Bucky sent Steve a quick text,  _call me back._

He leaned back against the wall and shut his eyes. He had no clue what was going on with him. Maybe he was having a bad reaction to the pills...?

_Holy shit. The pills._

He was  _in heat._

Bucky bit his lip and rubbed his hand across his stomach. It made sense, he honestly didn't know why he didn't think of it first. He could feel the heat pooling in his stomach, creeping lower and lower. Bucky just hoped that Steve would check his phone soon so that Bucky didn't end up slicking all over the fabric store. 

Thankfully, in about five minutes, his phone was ringing and he picked it up and answered it without checking who was calling, a rush of relief overcoming him when he heard Steve's deep voice on the other end. 

"What's up, Buck?" 

"I need you to pick me up." 

"Why? What happened?" 

Bucky could hear the slight panic in Steve's voice as the alpha probably imagined the worse case scenario. 

"I'm in heat." 

Steve was silent for a few seconds before he finally breathed out a soft, " _Shit._ "

"Are you at work now?' he asked. 

"Yeah, but I can't drive home." 

"Okay...okay. I'll pick you up and I'll have to call Clint or something to take care of Ollie. He'll have to swing by and pick up his stuff later." 

"Okay," Bucky said, wetting his lips which had suddenly gone rather dry. "Just hurry." 

It took Steve nearly five minutes to reach Bucky, which was only possible if he'd been speeding. 

"Jesus," Bucky muttered, sinking into Steve's arms when the door separating them was finally opened. 

"God, you're burning up," Steve said, laying the back of his hand across Bucky's forehead. "Let's get you home, huh?" 

The car ride was hell. Steve's scent was surrounding Bucky, invading his nose and head, fogging up his brain. It didn't help at all that Bucky was shaking, hot, and extremely weak. Bucky hadn't had the actual waves of heat yet, his body was still preparing for the at-most-week-long-adventure. 

Honestly, Bucky couldn't wait. 

He was going to be  _mated_ to Steve. 

To Steve. 

Bucky glanced over at the alpha in the driver's seat, whose eyes were trained on the road. Bucky found himself laying a hand on his thigh, wanting to be pressed up against him, their lips smashed together. 

"Bucky," Steve said. "Let's just get home, okay?" 

But Bucky's hand never left his thigh for the rest of the trip. 

Steve had to practically carry Bucky inside, the omega's legs not cooperating at all when he tried to walk. Steve sat him down on the living room couch as he ran around upstairs, putting together a bag for Clint to pick up when he swung by later before placing it outside on the porch. 

"Steve," Bucky called when the alpha was  _finally_ done. 

Steve's head whipped up and his eyes landed on Bucky, his face full of concern. 

"What's wrong?" 

"Just...come here." 

The alpha walked over, and Bucky beckoned for him to sit down. Once he did, the omega crawled on top of his soon-to-be mate and snuggled up to him, burying his nose in Steve's neck. Steve's hands ran up and down Bucky's back in a gentle and soothing way. 

They stayed like that for nearly half an hour, just breathing in each other's scents. The feeling in Bucky's lower stomach and the heat that ran throughout his body were getting slowly stronger and stronger, building up. 

"Steve," Bucky breathed out, drawing back to stare at the alpha underneath his lashes. He could feel the tingling haze of his heat slowly spreading all through his body, starting from his head, down to his arms, down to his stomach, then down between his legs. Bucky whined, low in his throat as slick trickled out, staining his pants. 

Steve was panting, his pupils blown wide as he smelled Bucky's slick for the second time. 

"S-steve. Stevie," Bucky repeated, clutching the alpha's shirt in his hands. 

"I've got you," Steve said, grabbing a hold of Bucky's thighs and standing up. The omega wrapped his legs around the other's torso as he was carried into the bedroom. 

_Their bedroom._

Bucky trembled with anticipation and pressed a wet kiss to Steve's lips, wanting to be as close to him as possible. Steve pressed back, slipping his tongue into Bucky's mouth. He sat down at the edge of the bed and ran his hands underneath Bucky's shirt, up his back. Everywhere Steve's fingers touched, Bucky's skin tingled. He arched his back as Steve's hands ran down him, before stopping just above the curve of his ass. He moved his mouth to Bucky's neck, sucking dark hickeys into his skin, licking his tongue over the mating gland. 

"Off," Bucky murmured, tugging at the bottom of Steve's shirt. The alpha complied, allowing Bucky to take his shirt off and rewarding him with strong abs and enormous pecs. Bucky breathed out a swear, running his hands over Steve's abdomen, before the alpha chuckled and said, "You too, baby." 

Bucky tugged his shirt over his head and they were back to kissing. He practically melted into Steve, letting his strong arms wrap around him and his scent to smother him. Bucky was in heaven. Pure, sweet heaven. 

Then Steve leaned back so that Bucky was laying on top of him, his ass dangerously close to Steve's crotch. In one brave move, Steve ran his hands down Bucky's exposed back and over his ass, squeezing slightly. Bucky moaned and pushed back into Steve's hands, encouraging the alpha to do it again. 

"I need you out of these," Steve panted into Bucky's mouth, pulling back for a moment to speak. Bucky reached down and popped the button on his jeans, breathing out a sigh when it offered relief to his crotch that he had no was hard. He shimmied his jeans down his legs, with the help of Steve, of course, before finally peeling them off, along with his socks, and tossing them to the floor. His slick was starting to come out faster and thicker, causing his inner thighs to turn slightly sticky. 

Steve rubbed the back of Bucky's bare thighs, squeezing the flesh and muscle. Bucky moaned out, breaking their kiss to lay his head on Steve's pec, his hands clenching into fists. 

"T-that feels.." he trailed off, his mind incapable of producing a full sentence. Steve just smirked and rubbed his hand along Bucky's crack. Bucky gasped out as his body responded, clenching and fluttering. 

"Now. I need you now, please, Stevie," he panted out, staring up at the alpha. 

"Alright," Steve said softly. Suddenly, he flipped them over so that Bucky was laying beneath the powerful alpha, staring up at him. Steve shimmied out of his pants, until they were both in their boxers. 

"Are you ready?" 

Bucky nodded quickly, eager to just  _get Steve in him already._

The alpha lifted his hand and placed it on the top of Bucky's boxers, stopping to stare his almost-mate in the eyes, silently asking if it was okay. Bucky nodded, maybe a little too eagerly, but it got Steve to  _finally_ take his boxers off of him. 

Steve breathed out once Bucky was fully naked and on display. "Jesus. You're beautiful." 

The omega just blushed. "What about you?" 

Steve chuckled and peeled off his own boxers, tossing them carelessly on the floor. Bucky had to gasp. Steve was  _huge._ There was no way he was ever going to fit inside of him. Steve reached a hand down and pressed his finger inside of Bucky, gently stretching him out. Bucky covered his eyes with his arm.  _No one_ had ever done this to him. Steve added a second, then a third finger after a while, Bucky's slick dripping down his wrist. Bucky was moaning and writhing beneath him, feeling hot and  _empty._ Then, Steve curled his fingers  _just right_ and Bucky gasped, his back arching off the bed. Steve just smirked and removed his fingers, making Bucky whine at the disappearance. 

"Hey," Steve said softly, taking Bucky's wrist and moving it down by his side so he could see his face. The alpha trailed a finger (not from the hand that had just been inside Bucky) down his cheek and smiled. "Are you ready?" he asked again. 

Bucky nodded, and  _finally, finally, finally,_ he started pushing into Bucky. 

It was better than he had ever imagined. 

Everything that was  _Steve_ was surrounding him, his scent, his skin, his voice, telling Bucky how beautiful he was and how good he felt. And Bucky believed every word. 

Steve started out slow, then picked up the pace until there were going pretty fast. Bucky couldn't help how vocal he was, gasping and moaning. Thankfully, they were alone in their house on a huge plot of land with only four other neighbors on the street and a few cows. 

Steve held Bucky's left leg up with his hand, and rested his other one of the omega's hip. Bucky's hands were useless, clenching the bedsheets. It didn't take long for Steve's thrusts to become sloppy as he neared his climax. 

"I'm gonna-" Steve gasped out. He wrapped a hand around Bucky, jerking him off until the omega was letting go. He tipped his head back, his eyes sliding shut. At the same time, Steve gave one last powerful thrust before he was exploding inside of Bucky. Steve surged forward, his mouth closing around Bucky's mating gland, his canines sliding out as he bit down into the omega's flesh. Bucky gasped as he felt the teeth pierce him. It hurt, just for a second, before endorphins were released into his body. He was floating, like he was high, and he felt like he was in a different dimension. 

He barely registered Steve collapsing to his side, dragging Bucky with him because they were still connected, thanks to Steve's knot. But he was there enough to mutter out, "Steve. Mate. Stevie. I love you," before tucking his head into his new mate's chest, his eyes sliding shut. 

"I love you too." 

***

Bucky woke up to a hand gently petting his hair, brushing it away from his face with soft strokes. He smiled and opened his eyes, staring into the face of his mate. 

"Hi Steve," he hummed out. His alpha smiled back. 

"You'll want to eat and drink something before the next round hits," he said, helping Bucky sit up. The omega took the water that was being offered to him and drank the whole glass in a few sips, soothing his dry throat. He was still in his bed, cuddled up with a soft blanket. All the other sheets were discarded on the floor, Bucky noticed, as Steve climbed into bed next to him holding a packet of crackers. 

"Eat this. You need to keep your strength up." 

Bucky accepted the crackers, handing his alpha the glass back and pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

"You missed," Steve chuckled, leaning forward and capturing Bucky's lips. The kiss was sweet and gentle, nothing rough, at lease, not yet. They kissed for a while before Steve pulled away and . stared at Bucky, gently holding his face between his hands. 

Bucky blushed. "What is it?" he asked, but Steve just smiled. 

"Just taking in the fact that we're now mates." 

"Sappy punk," Bucky said, chuckling, but he turned his head slightly and pressed a kiss to the palm of Steve's hand. 

"Bucky...this may sound weird, but just go with me, okay?" 

Bucky tilted his head. "Okay...?" 

"I want you to give me your bite." 

Bucky blinked. Honestly, he had kind of forgotten about the bite that Steve had given him, he had just been focusing on the fact that they were  _mates_ now. He reached a hand up and brushed his fingers over the bite, which was scarring over now. 

"What do you mean?" he asked. 

Steve bit his lip and ran his fingers through his hair. "I want you to give me your bite," he repeated. 

"But I'm an omega," Bucky said stupidly. "I wouldn't work." 

"Yes, it would. It works the same way as it does when an alpha bites an omega. People have done it before, it's just not as common. It'll connect us on a much deeper level than any normal mates, and anyway...." he dropped his voice down, almost as if he was embarrassed to say his next words, "I kinda like the idea of belonging to you." 

Bucky smiled and leaned forward, pressing another kiss against Steve's lips, this one with more need, more lust. "I like that idea too."

***

For the next five days, Bucky was in heat. It was physically and emotionally draining, but it felt _so good._ On the second day, Bucky managed to break Steve's skin and give him his bite. It felt amazing, Bucky claiming what was really his, so that not only could other people smell that Steve was mated, but they could see it too. 

Their sex remained mostly vanilla, neither of them wanting to break the fragile, new bond by introducing their kinks. Bucky wasn't sure he even  _had_ any kinks, after spending four years being raped, he had forgotten what he liked. Steve seemed to be in favor of seeing Bucky's face while they did it, which led to Bucky mostly being on his back, and even had him once bouncing on Steve's lap, which was way too tiring. Bucky didn't mind it. He figured that all fours would've reminded him of Hydra. 

But finally, on the sixth day, Bucky woke up, feeling back to normal, the fire inside of him gone. He rolled over in Steve's arms and pressed a kiss to the alpha's face, smiling as he watched Steve wake up, yawning widely. 

"How you feeling?" Steve asked immediately. He had done that every single morning.

"Much better," Bucky replied. "I think the heat is over." 

Steve smiled and kissed him, slow and gentle. "You wanna take a shower?" he murmured, and Bucky nodded. He hand't taken a shower in six days, so he was sure he didn't smell too good. They climbed in together, Bucky thankful for the giant shower in their master bathroom. Steve gently washed Bucky down, using soothing circles along Bucky's tired muscles with his soaped-up hands. Bucky then returned the favor and had some fun shampooing Steve's hair into a mohawk. 

Long after all the hot water had been used up, they climbed out of the shower, Steve wrapping Bucky up in a giant, fluffy towel. Bucky wandered over to the mirror and leaned in close, wiping some of the steam away before checking the bite on his neck. It had healed up nicely, leaving behind a scar in the shape of Steve's teeth. Steve had the same mark, although slightly smaller and on the left side of his neck instead of the right side. 

"We should ask Clint to bring Ollie back over this afternoon," Bucky said, toweling his hair off. "He probably missed us." 

"Oh, he defiantly missed us. Clint texted me yesterday saying that Ollie asks him every single morning if he can go back home yet," Steve replied. 

The rest of the day they spent cleaning up. Bucky dumped all their sheets into the laundry and opened the windows in the bedroom, even though it was a little cold outside, to let it air out. Steve cleaned up the living room from when they did it on the couch, putting the couch cushions back and vacuuming the rug. 

Finally, though, they were done, and Steve texted Clint to ask him to bring Ollie back over. They then settled in front of the TV for the time being, cuddling up next to each other. 

Bucky couldn't have been happier. 

He and Steve were  _mated._

It was like a dream come true. 

And maybe, just maybe, as Bucky sat there, curled up next to Steve underneath his strong arm, breathing in his wonderful scent with his bite mark standing proudly out against his skin,  _maybe_ Bucky did believe in true mates. 

***

"Daddy! Papa!" 

Bucky stumbled backwards as Ollie launched himself into Bucky's arms as soon as Steve opened the door. 

"Hi baby," Bucky hummed, running his hands up and down his pup's back. "How was Clint's house?"

"Fun," Ollie said. "Bud you weren't dere." 

"I'm sorry, baby, but Papa and I needed a week alone." 

Ollie pulled back and stared at Bucky, pouting, before he noticed Steve's bite mark. 

"Was dat?" he asked, pointing to it. 

"It's my mating bite," Bucky explained. "Papa gave it to me." 

Ollie tipped his head, not fully understanding. 

"It means that Papa and I are mated now." 

"Wike Uncle Clint and Aunt Laura?" 

"Yes, exactly like that," Steve said. He moved next to Bucky and Ollie, glancing over at Clint, who stood in the doorway. Bucky couldn't suppress a smile. Ollie had called Clint and Laura  _uncle_ and  _aunt._

"Look, I have one too," Steve said, pulling down his shirt slightly so the pup could see. Ollie inspected it, his eyes narrowing, before exclaiming, "Cool!" and wriggling to be let down. Once Bucky did, he trotted over into the living room and pulled out his toys. 

Clint chuckled. "I think that's all he wanted to do for the whole week." 

"Did he behave himself?" Bucky asked. 

Clint shrugged. "He was really quiet the first two days. I think he just missed you guys, but after that, he was fine. He was really gentle with Nathaniel, in case you're wondering. Lila and Cooper really liked him. Everybody got along just fine." 

"Thanks again for doing this, man. I know it was kinda sudden," Steve said, clapping Clint on the back. 

"No problem. Hey, congratulations by the way," Clint said to Steve, then turned to Bucky. "You'll have to talk to Laura sometime soon. She's been dying to know how Steve is. She makes me want to hit the gym more." 

Steve blushed and Bucky just laughed. He liked Clint. He had only really met him once before, but he was funny and honest. After they said goodbye to the beta and watched him leave, Bucky turned to Steve, wrapping his arms around his solid trunk. Steve hugged Bucky back, pressing his nose into his omega's hair. 

"Mate," Bucky hummed, and Steve breathed the word back. 

 _Finally,_ Bucky thought as he stood in the foyer, wrapped up in Steve's arms while their pup played in the living room.  _A family._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter!!!!
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes; I can't write smut for the life of me.


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